(Editor’s note: Overdose Awareness Day is Aug. 31.)
To the Editor:
This is the 25th year of International Overdose Awareness Day and the third year the Wayland Opioid Settlement Fund Working Group has observed the day with signs and a mass display of purple flags in the center of town representing the lives tragically lost to the opioid crisis.
A decrease of fatal overdoses in 2025 is encouraging. It reflects the impact of sustained investments in prevention, increased access to harm reduction services, and continuing support for treatment and recovery programs for those living with substance use disorder.
But behind every statistic is a person who matters, who was loved and is deeply missed.
Substance use disorder does not discriminate. Most people know someone with past or current struggles with the disease and the chaos it causes in the lives of family and friends.
Please join us in celebrating those lives lost and recognizing the grief of those left behind.
Sherre Greenbaum
Wayland Opioid Settlement Fund Working Group
