Attorney Neil Makhija will be holding a news conference at 4 p.m. today outside of the Carbon County Courthouse in Jim Thorpe to raise awareness for International Overdose Awareness Day.

Democrat Makhija is running for state representative in the 122nd DistrictInternational Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held every Aug. 31 to raise awareness of overdoses and help remove the negative stigma associated with them. Carbon County Sheriff Tony Harvilla and local parent Sandy Peters will also be attendance."In recent years, here in Carbon County, the drug epidemic has exploded and overdose calls have risen by 200 percent. I've lost too many friends to this epidemic - and our community is losing the talent of an entire generation. We need an overhaul of our approach to the drug epidemic," Makhija said.