October 6th is Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day

Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day (KOOAD), which has been observed on October 6^th in New Jersey since 2016, is this Friday. KOOAD is the project of the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey (PDFNJ), in cooperation with the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse; the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS); and the Community Coalition for a Safe and Healthy Morris. It aims to address the opioid epidemic in New Jersey and across the country by sharing vital information on the risks of opioid use, as well as toolkits, messages, images, and sample letters to help individuals and organizations take action.

Individuals and organizations can join in KOOAD efforts by sharing important information about opioids and the evolving opioid crisis with their families, friends, and neighbors on Friday and throughout the month. Every action and sharing of information makes a difference in the goal to raise awareness about New Jersey's opioid crisis.

Those interested can take one or more of these simple steps to participate in Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day:

• Register for Friday's Knock Out Opioid Abuse Learning Series Webinar and invite a friend to join you.
• Email a #KnockOutOpioidAbuseDay message to your neighbors, friends, families, and co-workers.
• View share share a video about fentanyl and prescribed opioid safety.
• Invite your local high school to get involved - for student service projects, parent education or youth athlete participation.
• Share a #KnockOutOpioidAbuseDay social media post.
• Ask your faith leaders to incorporate a #KnockOutOpioidAbuseDay message into sermons and newsletters.
• Contact your community and county leaders to issue a proclamation declaring their support of #KnockOutOpioidAbuseDay.
• Share digital safe prescribing resources with the doctors and dentists in your communities.
• Send a letter to your local newspaper about the importance of #KnockOutOpioidAbuseDay in the fight against the opioid epidemic.
• Urge your Congressional representative to pass legislation requiring prescribers to inform patients about the risks of opioids and non-opioid alternatives that exist.

KOOAD will host a learning series webinar, Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day: An Update from NIDA, on October 6, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. ET.

In this learning series webinar, Wilson M. Compton, MD, MPE, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health, will provide an overview of the current state of the evolving opioid crisis with his presentation. Drug Addiction, Science, and the U.S. Overdose Epidemic.

Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Education (CE) credits are available for attendees.

Click here to register to attend and for more information, and click here for more information on KOOAD 2023.