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Overdose Awareness Day event planned for Saturday By Vickie Aldous Updated: Sep 15, 2022 02:57 PM A A Max’s Mission will provide free overdose antidote kits during an Overdose Awareness Day event Saturday in Medford. [Photo courtesy of Max’s Mission] Fentanyl driving spike in overdose deaths People can pick up free overdose antidote kits, remember those who died and find out about addiction treatment during an Overdose Awareness Day event Saturday in Medford. The event is from 2-5 p.m. on the grass near the playground at Hawthorne Park, 501 E. Main St. Overdose deaths have spiked in Jackson County and across the nation in recent years as drug cartels increasingly mix fentanyl into street drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. Cartels are also using the often-deadly chemical mixture to make counterfeit pills that look like prescription medicine. "It’s important for parents and teenagers to be aware. Young people don’t believe a little pill that size can kill them. They may not even be taking a pill to try and get high. They may think they’re getting rid of a headache,“ said Julia Pinsky, organizer of the Overdose Awareness Day event in Medford. A lethal dose of fentanyl is the size of 10-15 grains of salt. Most fentanyl available in the United States is supplied by foreign drug cartels that don’t have good control over how much fentanyl they put in pills or powder, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Pinsky, the founder of the nonprofit Max’s Mission, lost her son Max to a heroin overdose in 2013. He was 25 years old. Residents who attend the Saturday event are invited to bring photos of those they’ve lost to overdoses and post the photos to a memory board. “People who died were human beings who were loved,” Pinsky said. But the event will also have a hopeful, festive side, with music and free face-painting, donuts and coffee. Pizza and enchiladas are available for purchase. More than two dozen community organizations will set up booths. Organizations include those that offer in-person substance use disorder treatment, plus convenient treatment options available via telehealth. People can learn about eligibility for the Oregon Health Plan, which covers physical, mental and dental health care. Max’s Mission will provide free opioid overdose antidote kits with training on how to use them. Opioids include heroin, fentanyl and prescription pain pills such as oxycodone. Anyone who uses or knows someone who uses opioids should keep an overdose antidote kit on hand, the U.S. Surgeon General has advised. A kit could also help you save a life even if you don’t know anyone who uses opioids. The kits have become even more crucial with the rise of fentanyl. In 2021, a record 107,622 people in the U.S. died from drug overdoses, with 66% of those deaths related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug poisonings are the leading killer of Americans between the ages of 18 and 45. Overdose deaths jumped to 91 in Jackson County in 2021, up from 41 deaths in 2020, and 16 in 2019, according to data from the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office. Jackson County overdose deaths in 2021 outnumbered deaths from suicides, car crashes or homicides — the other major categories of sudden, preventable death investigated by the medical examiner’s office. Police are warning that fentanyl is coming in more forms, including pills in a rainbow of candy-like colors. Dealers are adding color to pills and powder in an effort to get young people addicted to their often-deadly products, the DEA warned in August after colorful pills were seized in 18 states, including Oregon. For more information about free overdose antidote kits available year-round, see maxsmission.org . Reach Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous.