PITTSFIELD, Mass. - As the overdose deaths in Massachusetts and nationally have risen, Berkshire County organizations come together on International Overdose Awareness Day to raise awareness of drug addiction and increase accessibility to naloxone.

In downtown Pittsfield, 48 purple signs represent the Berkshire County lives lost due to an overdose in 2022. 

“In Massachusetts, we saw this past year in 2022, an increase of two and a half percent," Bob Dean said. "But in Berkshire County, we saw a decrease of fatal overdoses of 22%. And a lot of that is just because of this and getting this out into people's hands so that people have it.”

Berkshire Harm Reduction has installed more than 20 free public naloxone boxes across the county since the FDA approved the Narcan brand for over-the-counter use in March. The organization distributed doses to cars passing by Thursday’s standout.

“Overdoses can happen everywhere," Samantha Kendall said. "They will happen anywhere and everywhere. Nobody is exempt from seeing an overdose and it's super easy to use. It's a nasal spray. It doesn't hurt you if you're not overdosing. You can't build a tolerance to it, can't get in trouble for administering it. It's just one of the easier things to help save a life, if not the easiest.”

Dozens gathered in Park Square to hold signs and many had personal stories to share about how drug overdoses have impacted their lives. Ariel Errichetto is the peer support coordinator at Living in Recovery.

“I started using when I was pretty young and you know, I went through some really bad things and eventually I just decided it was time to get sober," Ariel Errichetto said. "After some pretty tragic events. I lost, I lost a stepbrother a few years ago. I lost a cousin (in March 2022). This whole event is really just to raise awareness that these people are real people and they're not just what you see when you look at them. And there's just 48 we lost in 2022 and it's just too many. It's really sad.”

“I think this is the beginning, right," Julie MacDonald said. "This is part of the beginning to changing that is us stepping out people not standing or hiding in shame anymore.”

Julie Macdonald and many others in attendance said the goal is to erase the stigma of overdoses and have the international fatality numbers decrease to zero.

“We need to raise awareness and educate our community that this is not a moral failing, but it's an actual disease that people have," MacDonald said. "And I think if we continue to do that, then we're going to see these numbers go down more. Let's hope so.”