White House to Host Families of Overdose Victims Amid Awareness Week

The White House in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images

The White House said on Tuesday that it will host families of overdose victims and advocates from across the United States as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to address the overdose epidemic.

The meeting, slated to be held on Aug. 28, comes just days after President Joe Biden declared Aug. 25 through Aug. 31 as “Overdose Awareness Week” to mourn those who have lost their lives to overdoses.

“Today I grieve with all the families and friends who have lost someone to an overdose. This is a time to act. And this is a time to stand together — for all those we have lost and all the lives we can still save,” Biden said on Aug. 23.

The event will feature White House Drug Control Policy Director Dr. Rahul Gupta and two officials from the Health and Human Services (HHS)—HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and HHS Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon—according to a White House statement.

They will highlight the administration’s “actions and investments to address this issue, uplift the stories of underserved communities directly impacted by this crisis, and discuss the critical importance of a whole-of-society effort to beat this epidemic and save lives” during the meeting, the statement added.

In his proclamation on Aug. 23, Biden acknowledged the “devastating toll” the opioid epidemic has inflicted on Americans and reaffirmed his commitment to disrupt the supply of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids in the country.

“We reflect on the progress we have made so far in reducing the number of annual overdose deaths and protecting American lives — and how much more there is to do,” the president stated.

Biden said his administration has taken a “comprehensive approach” to tackle the epidemic, including by expanding access to treatments and increasing the number of healthcare providers who can prescribe such medications.

He pledged to fight the stigmatization of substance use and accidental overdose, such as increasing access to opioid overdose reversal medications in schools and other places where an overdose may occur.

Drug overdose deaths in the United States decreased by 3 percent last year, dropping from 111,029 in 2022 to 107,543 in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC stated that overdose deaths involving opioids decreased from 84,181 in 2022 to 81,083 last year, while deaths linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl dropped from 76,226 to 74,702 during that period.

But there have been an increase in deaths linked to psychostimulants and cocaine. Between 2022 and 2023, deaths linked to psychostimulants increased from 35,550 to 36,251, while deaths related to cocaine rose from 28,441 to 29,918.

Alaska, Washington, and Oregon recorded “notable increases” of at least 27 percent in drug overdose deaths last year, according to the agency.