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Every August 31, International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) brings a global community together to take action on overdose. Hold an event, spread the message, take action today.

#IOAD2026 #OverdoseAware #EndOverdose 

Overdose is preventable – when we act

What we stand for

International Overdose Awareness Day is driven by the following principles...
Overdose can and must be prevented
Overdose prevention solutions exist – let’s use them.
Criminalizing drug use hasn’t worked. Compassionate alternatives must be pursued.
Policy and legislation must exist to protect individuals and communities, and ensure basic human rights and needs are met.
Everyone has a right to respectful and comprehensive health care.
Only a community-wide effort can end overdose.
Join us to take action on overdose today.

Ways to get involved

Hold an event

Host or attend an International Overdose Awareness Day event to remember those lost to overdose, learn more about overdose, or advocate for change to end overdose.

Get resources

Download our campaign, advocacy and education resources and share messages about overdose and overdose prevention in your community or workplace today.

Post a tribute

Post a tribute to a loved one who has passed away from an overdose on the International Overdose Awareness Day tribute page. 

Get merchandise

Buying and wearing merchandise is a great way to show your support and spread the messages of International Overdose Awareness Day.

2025 IOAD Partners' Report

Download our 2025 report now to find out more about the impact of our collective efforts to end overdose.

Tributes from the community

Heather Trent(mommy)

My mom was never around, I wished she was. Every birthday I remember wishing for her to come back. When I learned she was a drug addict it hurt, but I also had a feeling she passed away last month from an overdose of meth heroine and fent. She was a good person before the drugs. It destroyed her,it made her do unspeakable things to me, and she lost more than just her daughter, she lost her life. RIP

... Nyx

Madisen Leigh Thomson-Sorokowski

My sweet girl, I miss you so. I cannot believe that it has been 7 months since you moved on. My world seems bleak and as if it’s always missing something.. And that something is you, my love. I feel more lost today than I did the day your sister phoned me with the horrific news.. And at times I feel I’m not going to come out on the other side of this endless sadness I have inherited since you’ve been gone. I do take comfort in knowing that your pain is gone, and that you’re surrounded by family, chosen and blood that went before you, and so many friends I’m sure. I hope you know that you were and still are and always will be so very loved, my girl. I hope you know that I saw you, and I understood you, and I know how very, very hard you tried, every single day. I guess I never truly thought this is where we would ever be, either of us, despite it being my worst fear for so long. I’m sorry if you ever felt as though you weren’t enough.. You were. You were always perfectly enough. I’m sorry it you ever felt unimportant.. You were. So important. I’m sorry if you ever felt lost or helpless.. I searched for you, picked you up when you fell down, and I would do it all over again without hesitation. I miss you beyond measure and would give anything to hear one more “Hey Mama”, just one last time. Just one. Until we meet again, my sweet, sweet girl, I will keep looking to the stars where I know I will always find you and where you will always find me gazing. C’est okay d’avoir le cœur brisé, mais tu ne peux pas le rester éternellement, ma filled. Je t’aime de tout mon coeur. Love, Mama.

... Jessie

Brian and Brandon

Brian was the love of my life, I tried so hard to help him stay away from meth but nothing I done would help him stay completely off it. He would go months and be fine, then he would turn into a crazy person that thought everybody was out to get him.
When he was sober we loved going on long walks at the beach, fishing and going to live music events. He passed away in February 2026 from a massive heart attack due to overdose of meth.
His son Brandon struggled also with addiction but to heroin. When sober he was a great musician, he had a beautiful voice and could play anything on the guitar. He overdose in March 2026 a month after his dad Brian passed away.
Our family was devastated by both of their deaths a month apart 😢
Both were cremated and their ashes scattered at the beach. They were both loved and had a lot to get sober for but both struggled with staying sober. I will always love both of them and miss them.
Brian will always be my love, my best friend, my heart and soul. They are both now free from their demons. No more voices in their head. No more paranoia.

... Kim

ROBERT ANTHONY ROJAS

I LOVE YOU BABY BOY AND NOT A DAY GOES BY BABY THAT MOM DOESN’T THINK ABOUT YOU OR TALK ABOUT YOU. YOU ARE MISSED SO SO MUCH SON…. I WILL CONTINUE KEEPING YOUR SPIRIT ALIVE BY BRINGING AWARENESS AND EDUCATION TO SAVE LIVES….. ROB’S WORLD 4-EVER….. FOREVER 29

... CHRISTINA VALENTI-FELIX

My highschool sweet heart, best friend, baby daddy, Brian David Stock

Brian David Stock (7/30/1986 – 5/1/2023)

We met during a time in my life when I was unaware of how to properly deal with mental health issues. Teenage years can already be so hard and chaotic, especially for over emotional girls whom feel every single emotion to the highest degree! I remember sitting in class, at the alternative highschool I was at, since I had already caused trouble for myself and family in regular public schooling system. Suddenly, a note comes flying over my shoulder into my desk. It simply said, “you should smile.”…. That was it. Around age 14/15, Brian D. Stock and I became, from then on, inseparable! First as best friends….later as crushes developed, as highschool sweethearts. Enjoying things like our first and only attended prom together, many nights sneaking out as teens do, just to run amok with other friends on our skateboards and bmx bikes, to enjoying every single day at school in the same classes together. He even moved into my childhood home, so we grew up together from 15 years on. He was my confidante, my keeper, my joker, my muse, my motivation for everything. We did have a small stint, shortly after highschool where we broke up. Later, we deemed this ok, as we were just kids in serious “puppy love” at first. We reunited in young adulthood. Each of us having already had one child, early, with others. (This never mattered, they are all OUR children, this is how we always seen it. To this day, whether it’s my oldest son, who deeply befriended Brian and called him “daddy Brian, or his oldest daughter, who has honored me by asking if she can call me mom and still still considers me in this way to this day and I answer to her when she reaches out, as such. Or our youngest, who unfortunately, is a different kind of victim to the throws of active addiction. Not only did she lose a parent, her dad, to over dose. She unfortunately didn’t even know who we were to her, until his memorial….. That’s when she learned he was her dad and I am her mother ….)
So as you have read, active addiction unfortunately became apart of our lives. We obviously never chose or wanted it. We never imagined when we were young we would grow up to be junkies. Or end up homeless, having lost our life dreams that we had already begun to achieve, the job, the apartment, the children, the cars, the proper, righteous and amazing life everyone deserves and strives for…. Ripped from our grasp due to being 2 more souls who battle the disease addiction….. Active addiction was some of the worst times of Brian’s and my life….
However, for the sake of remembrance, I am going to steer away from all that, as it is obvious and been made inherently clear.
So, I will say, regardless, whether in active addiction, or working recovery and actively sober…. I am no the only one who has endless amounts of great memories of Brian D. Stock,!!
He was just the most amazing, funniest, silliest, goofy, most creative, talented beyond measure (*no exaggerating here, he honestly, and literally, could pick up anything for the first time, be it an instrument that he has never touched before, can suddenly play by ear, or seeing urban art, so picking up a paint marker or spray paint can, and being able to tag as beautifully and boldly as artists that have dedicated their lives to the art, or grabbing a pen and writing the most sincere,and moving lyrics or poems, as well as being so properly well written, when it called for it, showing off and impeccable vernacular, with grammar that only a linguist could truly appreciate!! There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do…it was mind blowing to everyone who ever met or knew him*) Brian, when entering a room, captivated people without trying. Whether being drawn to his hilarious antics, that could brighten anyone’s day and bring even the most serious person to bouts of laughter. Or his ability to lead and push forward under pressure and stressful situations. To his being there for his brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, even his extended family like cousins and aunts who miss him everyday, to this day, and of course always having been there for me.
He is missed by the world in my truest and most honest opinion. The talent he had, speaks of having had the potential to be someone great, known and famous to the world, hands down…..but sadly, thanks to opioid addiction, me, his children, his family, his friends, and the entirety of the world was robbed of Brian, and everything he was and could have ever been to us.
Although, those of us that were blessed enough to have, at least, had the pleasure of having him for the short time he lived, we will forever know and recognize the gift we were given, forever be grateful for having been able to spend the time we had with him, and forever miss him more than anyone could ever know!
Brian David Stock, beloved son, brother, father, and best friend and first love! Now missed, taken far too soon by fentanyl overdose at age 37. May he always be cherished and remembered.

... Victoria his “Baby-squirrel”

Joshua Fettwrs

He was 25 had his whole young life ahead of him. He loved riding dirt bikes and horses . Loved the Colorado river and having fun with all his family and friends. HE OD’d on somas and oxy

... Rachael