While the entire country has been trying to fight the opioid crisis, Maryland seems to be losing the battle.
In 2017, the number of deaths due to alcohol and drugs climbed to 2,282 in the state. According to the Maryland Department of Health, that was an increase of 9 percent from 2016 and the majority of deaths, 2,009, were opioid-related overdoses. One of the biggest problems the state has had in reducing the numbers of deaths is that law enforcement has few ways to try and control the problem.
Unlike other states, it is not an issue of opioids being over-prescribed. Instead, it is largely due to the fact that fentanyl, an opioid much more powerful than heroin, is being added to heroin and cocaine that is being sold on Maryland’s streets. In most cases, it is added without the user’s knowledge.
Deaths due to fentanyl in Maryland increased by a staggering 42 percent in 2017 when compared with the year before. While there were 1,119 fentanyl-related deaths in 2016, that number climbed to 1,594 in 2017. Due to the fact that illicit fentanyl is mainly to blame for the problem, the best defense law enforcement currently has is trying to stop the sale of drugs on the street.
“The problem with that,” says Kush Arora of Price Benowitz, LLP, “is that it can be very difficult to determine who is actually selling the drugs. With numbers this high, law enforcement is feeling the pressure to make arrests, which could result in innocent people being accused of something they never did. There are other ways to fight this particular part of the problem.”
The state has deployed some of these other solutions, such as the stabilization center in Baltimore. The center is a place people can go if they are under the influence to get medical treatment and find resources for other social services. Access to naloxone, the drug that will reverse an overdose of opioids, has also been expanded.
However, more steps need to be taken. Many health officials have stated that even with the increasing numbers over the past seven years, the crisis in the state has still not peaked. More solutions need to be found, and quickly.
