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Opioid overdoses in Maryland increased 14.8 percent in first six months of 2018

Maryland Gazette - 10/13/2018

The number of opioid overdoses in Maryland increased 14.8 percent in the first half of the year as public health officials and others continue to struggle to get a handle on the epidemic.

Opioid overdoses accounted for most of the intoxication deaths, killing 1,185 people statewide from January to June, compared to 1,032 during the same period last year, according to data released Friday by the Maryland Department of Health. The total number of people who died from intoxication deaths was 1,325, a 12 percent increase over the last year.

The powerful opioid fentanyl was laced in the drugs in most of these deaths. More than three-quarters of all overdose deaths involved fentanyl, a powerful opioid 50 times more potent than heroin and often added to drugs without the user knowing.

State officials said stemming the epidemic has proved challenging in part because it has evolved so quickly. Early on, prescription drugs posed the biggest issue.

Better monitoring of who is prescribed opioids and other efforts have helped to stabilize those numbers and now elicit street drugs are the issue, said Clay Stamp, executive director of the state's Opioid Operational Command Center.

"Lots of good people are working really hard on this issue across the state," Stamp said. "We didn't get into this overnight and we are not going to get out of it overnight."

Dealers are also targeting cocaine users, a different crowd than heroine users. Cocaine-related deaths climbed 54 percent from last year. The increase was mostly attributed to cocaine combined with opioids, which were found in 90 percent of the overdose cases, according to the health department.

Cocaine-related deaths now outpace heroin-related deaths, making cocaine the second most prevalent drug among overdose deaths.

Many cocaine users are surprised to find their drugs were laced with fentanyl, said Fran Phillips, deputy secretary for public services with the Maryland Department of Health.

"This is a very different population and a very different market," Phillips said. "In the past cocaine users had some sense of safety. They weren't the users who might have been impacted by fentanyl. Now, we have to get that message out to them about the risk."

The state has deployed a comprehensive approach to the addressing the epidemic, including expanding access to naloxone, a drug that reverses overdoses and working with hospitals to urge people into treatment. Medicaid expanded the number of residential treatment beds it would cover and the state helped to fund a stabilization center in Baltimore that serves as a safe place for drug users to go when they are intoxicated to get medical treatment and links to other social services. The state has also has worked to increase the number of medical providers who can prescribe buprenorphine, a medication that relieves withdrawal symptoms,

Baltimore recently became one of several cities to participate in program the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to address the epidemic on many fronts. For example, the agency is working with Baltimore Police Department and the Baltimore State's Attorney's Office to evaluate cases that could be tried at the federal level, which has lengthier sentences.

Clay hopes that new legislation recently passed by the U.S. Congress will help stop illicit fentanyl from coming into the country.

amcdaniels@baltsun.com

twitter.com/ankwalker

Credit: By Andrea K. McDaniels - The Baltimore Sun - amcdaniels@baltsun.com;twitter.com/ankwalker