Overdose Awareness Week, 2021
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Citation | 86 FR 48885 |
| Record Number | 2021-19006 |
| Section | Presidential Documents |
| Court | Executive Office Of The President |
Presidential Documents
48885
Federal Register
Vol. 86, No. 167
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
Title 3—
The President
Proclamation 10241 of August 27, 2021
Overdose Awareness Week, 2021
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
The overdose epidemic has taken a toll on far too many Americans and
their loved ones. Addiction is a disease that touches families in every
community, including my own. The epidemic is national, but the impact
is personal. It is personal to the millions who confront substance use disorder
every day, and to the families who have lost loved ones to an overdose.
During Overdose Awareness Week, we recommit to taking bold actions
to prevent overdoses and related deaths, and enhance our support for individ-
uals with substance use disorders.
In recent years, we have seen synthetic opioids, such as illicitly manufactured
fentanyl, drive many overdose deaths with cocaine- and methamphetamine-
related deaths also increasing at alarming rates. The COVID–19 pandemic
has exacerbated the overdose epidemic, as necessary pandemic restrictions
made it harder for individuals with addiction to receive the treatment and
support services they need. These factors contributed to the more than
93,000 drug overdose deaths in 2020. As a Nation, we need a strong response
to America’s overdose epidemic and an investment in prevention, harm
reduction, treatment and recovery services, as well as strategies to reduce
the supply of illicit drugs.
While drug overdose and addiction affect many different communities across
the United States, we also recognize the longstanding inequities experienced
by people of color, people who identify as LGBTQ+, formerly incarcerated
individuals, people experiencing homelessness, and others. For too many
years, these communities have faced disparate access to health care, differen-
tial treatment in the criminal justice system, and poorer health outcomes.
My Administration is committed to addressing addiction and the overdose
epidemic with evidence-based strategies. In April, to ensure that the Federal
Government is promoting evidence-based public health and safety interven-
tions, the Office of National Drug Control Policy released my Administration’s
first year drug policy priorities. These include expanding access to preven-
tion, treatment and harm reduction efforts, reducing youth substance use,
reducing the supply of illicit substances, advancing recovery-ready work-
places, and expanding the addiction workforce and access to recovery support
services for all Americans. My Administration is also committed to elimi-
nating racial disparities in responding to the overdose epidemic as well
as reviewing the overall approach to drug policy.
This effort requires significant investments in our health care infrastructure.
In my American Rescue Plan, we provided crucial funding for substance
use disorder treatment and harm reduction, including a nearly $4 billion
investment in our Nation’s behavioral health infrastructure. This includes
$30 million for a new Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Adminis-
tration grant program to support community-based efforts aimed at preventing
overdoses and reducing harm associated with substance use.
We also recognize that many of our brave veterans recovering from service
injuries may be vulnerable to opioid addiction. I signed the Dispose Unused
Medications and Prescription Opioids Act to ensure that Veterans Affairs
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 167 / Wednesday, September 1, 2021 / Presidential Documents
facilities provide locations to dispose controlled substances in a safe, secure
and supportive environment.
Agencies across the Federal Government are also making significant strides
in supporting individuals with substance use disorders. The Department
of Health and Human Services continues to work on expanding access
to evidence-based treatment, including a new policy to expand access to
buprenorphine, a medication for the treatment of opioid use disorder. The
Drug Enforcement Administration also issued a new rule that allows more
opioid use disorder treatment programs to operate mobile components to
better serve rural and underserved communities. These actions are only
the beginning. My Administration will be taking additional actions to reduce
barriers to life-saving treatment and expand access to prevention, harm
reduction, and recovery support services.
Overdose Awareness Week provides us an opportunity to recommit ourselves
to addressing this epidemic. By enhancing our support for individuals facing
substance use disorder we can save lives.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States
of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution
and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 29 through
September 4, 2021, as Overdose Awareness Week. I call upon citizens,
government agencies, organizations, healthcare providers, and research insti-
tutions to raise awareness of substance use disorders to combat stigma,
to promote treatment and celebrate recovery, and to strengthen our collective
efforts to prevent overdose deaths. August 31st also marks Overdose Aware-
ness Day, on which our Nation mourns the lives lost to the drug overdose
epidemic.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-seventh
day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-one, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred
and forty-sixth.
[FR Doc. 2021–19006
Filed 8–31–21; 8:45 am]
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