[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 167 (Wednesday, August 30, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59785-59786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-18882]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 30, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 59785]]

                Proclamation 10608 of August 25, 2023

                
Overdose Awareness Week, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                The overdose epidemic is a national crisis, and for 
                millions of Americans, it is personal. Too many 
                families have lost their children, siblings, parents, 
                and friends to substance misuse and overdose. Every 
                loss is a painful reminder that we must take bold 
                action to end our Nation's overdose epidemic. During 
                Overdose Awareness Week, we reaffirm our commitment to 
                beating this public health and public safety epidemic--
                in memory of all those we have lost and to protect all 
                the lives we can still save.

                People with substance use disorder face too many 
                barriers to treatment. And while synthetic opioids, 
                like illicitly produced fentanyl, are driving the 
                majority of overdose deaths today and perpetuating 
                addiction, we know that prevention and recovery are 
                possible if people get the support and treatment they 
                need. That's why my Administration established a 
                National Drug Control Strategy that goes after two 
                major drivers of the overdose epidemic: untreated 
                addiction and drug trafficking.

                My Administration has worked hard to ensure that 
                substance use disorder is treated like any other 
                disease, funding the expansion of prevention, 
                treatment, harm reduction, and recovery support 
                services. As a part of my Unity Agenda, we passed a law 
                making it easier for doctors to prescribe effective 
                treatments, leading to an unprecedented and historic 
                expansion that finally put help within reach for 
                millions of Americans.

                Through the American Rescue Plan, we delivered more 
                than $5 billion to strengthen and expand State and 
                community mental health and substance use disorder 
                services. We also addressed the mental health of 
                frontline workers, like nurses, who are dealing with 
                this crisis every day, by directing $103 million 
                specifically to meet their needs. And my Bipartisan 
                Safer Communities Act went even further--providing 
                billions of dollars to improve mental health services 
                for young people, including hiring and training more 
                school mental health counselors so young people get the 
                care they need.

                We continue to fight the stigmatization that surrounds 
                substance use disorder so people feel comfortable 
                reaching out for help when they need it. The Food and 
                Drug Administration approved two Naloxone products--an 
                opioid overdose reversal medication--for over-the-
                counter use. Now, every American will be able to access 
                this life-saving medication. And our new National 
                Response Plan to address the deadly combination of 
                fentanyl mixed with xylazine coordinates efforts across 
                all of government to confront this dangerous emerging 
                threat.

                My Administration is also disrupting the flow of 
                illicit drugs by making it costlier to bring killer 
                drugs into America; going after drug traffickers' 
                profits; and targeting their financial networks, supply 
                chains, and delivery routes, including on the internet. 
                We have strengthened coordination and information 
                sharing among our intelligence and domestic law 
                enforcement agencies to dismantle drug traffickers and 
                their networks. So far, my Administration has seized 
                more than 1.6 million pounds of drugs before they 
                crossed the border and entered into our communities, 
                including over 42,500 pounds of illicitly manufactured 
                fentanyl. And we are not done. Drug overdose deaths 
                leveled off in 2022 after sharp increases from 2019 to 
                2021. Now,

[[Page 59786]]

                we must double down on this work, which is why my 
                proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2024 requests a 
                historic $46.1 billion for national drug control 
                programs. The Congress must act to invest in solutions 
                that will prevent these drugs from ever hitting our 
                streets and getting into the hands of our loved ones, 
                including by passing all of the measures called for in 
                my Administration's 2021 recommendations to the 
                Congress on reducing illicit fentanyl-related 
                substances, which will strengthen public health and 
                public safety.

                Today, I grieve with all those who have lost someone to 
                an overdose. May we find hope in the more than 20 
                million brave Americans recovering from substance use 
                disorder, who show us what is possible when people have 
                the care, treatment, and support they need. My 
                Administration will continue to ensure that our Nation 
                has the resources we need to address this crisis, 
                prevent illicit drugs from reaching our communities, 
                and finally defeat the overdose epidemic in our Nation.

                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 27 
                through September 2, 2023, as Overdose Awareness Week. 
                I call upon citizens, government agencies, civil 
                society organizations, health care providers, and 
                research institutions to raise awareness of substance 
                use disorder so that our Nation can combat 
                stigmatization, promote treatment, celebrate recovery, 
                and strengthen our collective efforts to prevent 
                overdose deaths. August 31st also marks Overdose 
                Awareness Day, on which we honor and remember those who 
                have lost their lives to the drug overdose epidemic.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-18882
Filed 8-29-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P