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Baltimore Overdose-Crisis Meeting Hosts Plan to Arrest More Drug Users
The strategy depicted by BPD's top brass runs contrary to a consensus among public health experts and harm reduction advocates. For decades, they've warned that targeting drug users is futile and potentially deadly.
The Art of Relapse: Shame, Hopelessness and Suicidality
From the moment I used drugs, I knew I'd love them until I died. Yet I never thought I would weaponize them to escape my anguish through irreversible acts of desperation.
International Overdose Awareness Day is a day of remembrance — and a call to action
Tomorrow is not just about those who have died. It's also about those who are currently using in the face of an increasingly lethal drug supply, and what we can do to keep them alive.
Baltimore to distribute naloxone to neighborhood and community associations to curb in-home overdoses
Public health experts have said that naloxone was an important factor in the city’s historic drop in overdose deaths last year, and officials said on Thursday their goal is to get it into the hands of as many people as possible.
Expansion of life-saving medications for opioid use disorder in prisons delayed as access remains a public health threat
There are already concerns that the program, which allows opioid-use disorder medications to be covered by Medicaid, won’t go far enough. The program only covers the medications, which include methadone and buprenorphine, 90 days prior to release.
New data on Baltimore's OD crisis underscores the absurdity of local response
New state data on Baltimore's drug supply and fatal overdoses provides the latest insight into the city's crisis. Deaths are on the decline, yet the cops have opted to crack down — and the drug supply continues to evolve.
Baltimore Accepts Offer for Fraction of the Opioid Settlement It Sought
When factoring in a handful of settlements with other opioid manufacturers and distributors reached in 2024, the city’s total earnings from opioid-related lawsuits have reached nearly $580 million.
Baltimore's windfall of restitution funds isn't as much as you think
Baltimore is slated to receive $580 million total in restitution funds after the city accepted an offer from the judge in the case against McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. That seems like a lot of money — until you put it in context.
As Trump targets Baltimore’s unsheltered population and harm reduction funding, Mayor Scott offers many words, few actions
Mayor Brandon Scott has appeared on national television five times this week to rebut Trump’s lies about violent crime, but he still hasn’t detailed a plan to protect Baltimoreans dealing with homelessness and substance use disorder.
Maryland is without any harm reduction training program after dropping Baltimore nonprofit
Since July 1, there has been no organization helming the Maryland Department of Health’s statewide harm reduction training program, and all harm reduction training modules have been scrubbed from the internet.
Judge Offers Baltimore $100 million for OD Crisis—Far Less Than City Sought
The August 8 decision was not a complete surprise. In a June ruling, Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill had indicated the city would not receive nearly as much as it had hoped.
Dollar signs and discourse mean nothing without decisive action on OD crisis
The influx of public discourse about Baltimore's overdose crisis has been a welcome and undoubtedly positive change. Yet without action, those who use drugs will continue to die at astronomical rates.