BILL NUMBER: S487
SPONSOR: FERNANDEZ
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing August
thirty-first of each year as a day of commemoration known as "Overdose
Awareness Day"
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To designate August 31st as Overdose Awareness Day
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds Overdose Awareness Day as a day of commemoration on
August 31.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Overdose death is preventable. The New York State Department of Health,
in its Opioid Annual Report for 2019 indicated "deaths involving any
opioid, went from 0.9 per 100,000 population in 2010 to 11.3 in 2017, a
1,194 percent increase." With deaths involving any opioid nearly tripl-
ing over the past decade the stigma around overdose related deaths has
only forced individuals to suffer in silence. Designating August 31st as
"Overdose Awareness Day" would help combat the stigma that surrounds
drug-related deaths and acknowledge the grief felt by those who have
lost someone as the result of an overdose. This day will honor those who
have suffered at the hands of an overdose related death by bringing
awareness to this issue.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: S2675 / A5143
2021-22: S5960 / A7887
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S487: 168-a executive law, 168-a(3) executive law