Attorney General Josh Stein Statement on International Overdose Awareness Day

For Immediate Release:
Friday, August 30, 2024

Contact:
Nazneen Ahmed (919) 716-0060

(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today released the following statement for International Overdose Awareness Day (Aug.31).

"I've met with too many families who have lost a parent, a child, or a sibling to a drug overdose. There are no words to heal their hurt. But on International Overdose Awareness Day, we know that we must do all we can to make sure that others don't experience the same grief and devastation of losing someone they love to addiction.

"I'm fighting to hold accountable the companies that helped create and fuel this crisis, and as a result, North Carolina communities are receiving nearly $1.5 billion to help get treatment and recovery resources to the people who need them. I've also been fighting to keep fentanyl traffickers off our streets. I've convened a statewide Fentanyl Task Force with local, state, and federal law enforcement leaders to find effective solutions to tackle the fentanyl crisis. That's how we helped support legislation to ban money laundering and drafted the Stop Counterfeit Pill Act to prohibit equipment that makes counterfeit pills. Both bills are now law.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us to get drug traffickers out of our communities and help people recover from substance use disorder. But we're on the right track. More people will be alive tomorrow than otherwise would have been because of all of the hard work North Carolinians are doing to build a healthier tomorrow."

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