Advocates mark International Overdose Awareness Day

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Celebrate Recovery from Clarksburg Baptist Church was at the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival Saturday, giving out free Narcan and spreading awareness of the fight against opioid abuse on International Overdose Awareness Day.

WVU Medicine Healthy Minds also said they were around Harrison County, spreading information to raise awareness on the issue of overdose. West Virginia is the state with the highest rate of overdose death in the country with 77.2 per 100,000 people in 2021.

Lou Ortenzio, an Ambassador Coach at Celebrate Recovery talked about the importance raising awareness of the issue.

“We have an overdose crisis going on in West Virginia and in the world – certainly in the United States. In the United States last year we lost 107,000 Americans to overdoses. Seventy percent of that was fentanyl ,” Ortenzio said.

Ortenzio emphasized the importance of hope when thinking about substance abuse.

“The general narrative is that people don’t recover, but they do recover,” Ortenzio said.

Celebrate Recovery has meetings at 6 p.m. every Tuesday at Clarksburg Baptist Church for those dealing with substance abuse.

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