Awareness opens the door. Treatment, access, and research are what carry people through it. As Overdose Awareness Month arrives, that next step is the part our field is uniquely positioned to advance.

For years, treatment for substance use barely changed. That’s finally shifting. More than ten biopharma companies are now developing therapies for opioid use disorder, and the science is getting more creative. Indivior is testing an orexin receptor antagonist that works differently than anything on the market today. Eli Lilly, Alkermes, and Teva all have active programs. Some of the most exciting momentum comes from GLP-1 medications now being studied across alcohol, opioid, and other use disorders in more than 30 trials.

But there’s a gap. Nearly 80% of addiction research still happens in academic settings, with industry only beginning to catch up. That’s exactly where trust and access matter. New treatments only help people if communities know about the trials, believe in them, and can take part.

At The STARR Coalition, we see clinical research as care, not a last resort. Awareness brings people to the conversation. Research is how we keep it going.

This month, help your community learn the signs of an overdose, how to respond, and how research is working to save lives.

Manatee County was once the epicenter of Florida’s opioid crisis, leading the state in overdose deaths. But now, thanks to a community wide effort involving Manatee law enforcement agencies, emergency medical service providers, NAMI, and other local nonprofits and faith-based groups, those numbers have dropped dramatically. So much, in fact, that the Florida Department of Children and Families recently recognized Manatee County as the state’s top performer in reducing opioid-caused deaths.

Brenda Brooker, who spearheads NAMI’s peer recovery efforts as part of Manatee County’s Overdose Prevention and Education Program (OPEP), recently appeared on both television networks to discuss how NAMI and other community partners have helped drive down overdoses in the county from a high of 1,289 in 2016 to 204 last year. Overdose deaths were similarly reduced from 123 to 37 during that same period, including a dramatic 56% reduction in overdose deaths in Manatee County between 2023 and 2024 alone.

Click here to watch a clip about Manatee County’s success.