Carroll County proclaims Aug. 31 International Overdose Awareness Day; health department peers urge stigma reduction and harm reduction services

The Board of Carroll County Commissioners on Aug. 28 proclaimed Aug. 31, 2025, as International Overdose Awareness Day and heard testimony from Carroll County Health Department staff and peer recovery specialists about local harm-reduction and peer-support efforts.

The proclamation, read at the start of the meeting, described IOAD as an international campaign to remember those lost to overdose, reduce stigma, and promote prevention strategies, and the board adopted it and recorded signatures by the commissioners.

Nut graf: Health department staff used the public presentation to outline local peer support, harm reduction and outreach work and to request continued public and governmental support for reducing overdose deaths. Speakers said stigma remains a barrier to people seeking help and called for compassion-focused responses.

Amy Baker, program director for special populations at the Carroll County Health Department, introduced several peer specialists and said department staff work daily on outreach, peer support, harm reduction and case management. She then turned the podium to peer recovery specialists with lived experience to speak directly about what recovery and stigma look like.

Lauren Lilly, a certified peer recovery specialist who also works evenings as a licensed substance use counselor, said her lived experience informs her work and urged the county to reduce stigma because shame keeps people from seeking treatment. “Harm reduction is the heart of recovery. It's simply compassion put into action,” Lilly said, asking commissioners to attend a recovery celebration on Sept. 6 at Westminster City Park.

Jermaine Thornton, peer support supervisor at the health department and a lifelong Carroll County resident, described personal losses to overdose and said peer services aim to keep people alive until they are ready for treatment: “Our peers hold out our hands to those who are struggling, hoping they'll grab on,” Thornton said.

Health department presenters reminded the board that access to peer, diversion, harm-reduction and prevention services is available through the health department, and encouraged commissioners to continue public awareness and support. County elected leaders thanked the speakers for sharing personal stories and for the work of peer staff.

Public comment at the meeting included a speaker who urged county attention to cannabis as a harm-reduction option; another caller recommended banning kratom and urged enforcement of public-use limits for cannabis. The board did not take new policy action at the meeting specific to those public requests; the proclamation and the health department’s request for public participation in recovery events were the principal outcomes.

Ending: Commissioners and health department staff posed for photos with attendees and reaffirmed the county’s proclamation and the county’s continuing support for harm-reduction and peer-support efforts.