This measure would proclaim March 6, 2024, as Black Balloon Day.
Digest Key
Fiscal Committee:
NO
Bill Text
WHEREAS, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) defines drug overdose as a trauma to the body that happens when a drug is taken in excessive amounts; and
WHEREAS, Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States; and
WHEREAS, Addiction to opioids is driving the majority of accidental deaths in the United States; and
WHEREAS, More Americans are likely to succumb to an overdose from opioids than they are from car accidents or by guns; and
WHEREAS, Fentanyl is a rising issue, leading to 67,325 preventable deaths in 2021, representing a 26 percent increase from 53,480 preventable deaths in 2020; and
WHEREAS, According to the CDC, more than 112,000 people died due to drug overdose in the United States in 2023; and
WHEREAS, According to the CDC, 10,091 people died in California due to a drug overdose in 2021; and
WHEREAS, In 2020, drug overdose and poisoning deaths for persons 14 to 18 years of age, inclusive, grew by 169 percent, more than three times as fast as the national rate and fast than any other five-year age group; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims the date of March 6, 2024, as Black Balloon Day, a day to remember and celebrate the lives lost to overdose by opioids.