March 6 Black Balloon Day raising overdose awareness

If you don’t know someone impacted by drug addiction, then you can quit reading this story now. Unfortunately, just about every one of you that read that first sentence is still reading.

Even if you are fortunate enough not to have had someone from your own family impacted by addiction, chances are you know, who is, was or will be addicted at some point. If not, then you will probably know someone, whose son, daughter, niece, nephew, etc. has dealt with it.

A largely virtual event called Black Balloon Day is planned for Saturday, March 6. It is designed to raise addiction awareness.

The Whitley County Health Department is asking people to participate by sharing their black balloon photo, or black balloon photo cutout Saturday on social media using the #BlackBalloonDay.

Black Balloon Day is designed to raise awareness about overdose deaths, which are one of the leading causes of accidental death in the United States.

In 2018, 67,367 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you or someone that you know is struggling with addiction, you may want to utilize some of the resources listed below:

• 1-8338-KY-HELP (1-833-859-4357) or text HOPE to 96714.
• Call the Kentucky Opioid and Assistance Resources Hotline (KY-OAR) at 1-800-854-6813, or log onto https://findhelpnowky.org/ky.
• Call the harm reduction case manager at the Whitley County Health Department for addiction resources at (606) 765-3077.