By Catherine Pugh
Special to the AFRO
After 27 people in Baltimore City were rushed to the hospital for apparent drug overdoses on July 10, the attention immediately went to the site of the incidents, Pennsylvania and North avenues, and more broadly to the city, where the problem of drug addiction is evident by the numbers.
Research reveals that 27 is the largest known number of people to suffer drug overdoses at one time in the country. Allegedly, the substance or substances causing this massive overdose were “testers,” drugs that dealers provide to users freely with anticipation of future sales.
Substance abuse is not exclusive to the Penn-North area, however, but is a crisis facing many neighborhoods in Baltimore City, including East Baltimore, Cherry Hill and Highlandtown.
Data shows Baltimore has the highest drug overdose rate in the nation, with 174.1 overdoses per 100,000 people, followed by Davidson County near Nashville, Tennessee, at 101.5 per 100,000.
What was effective and probably not given enough credit was how quickly community advocates, organizations and city officials went to work distributing Naloxone, which reverses drug overdoses in minutes, preventing death.
It seemed to prove that the comprehensive plan put in place in 2024 by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is having an impact. The city’s plan is being aided by the lawsuit won against pharmaceutical companies that manufacture opioids like fentanyl, which added $402.5 million to an Opioid Restitution Fund. The city recently released nearly $40 million dollars to organizations and agencies aiding in the crisis of drug addiction.
This crisis also provided a platform for community advocates and city officials, including Councilwoman Phylicia Porter, who support the mayor’s desire to provide Overdose Prevention Centers similar to New York City, where addicts can receive clean needles, drug testing, get housing help and treatment for their addiction when ready. In February, Providence Rhode Island opened the first state-sanctioned Overdose Prevention Center in the country, run by the nonprofit Project Weber/RENEW and funded by legal settlement with pharmaceutical companies producing opioids.
The painful incident in Penn-North is not lost on elected officials representing the area, who have consistently brought money back to that community to help bring about renewal and commitment to a part of the city that has suffered from neglect and underfunding for decades.
In the last three years, 40th District Sen. Antonio Hayes has garnered over $50 million in state grants to support economic development along the West North Avenue corridor.
“For too long, Penn-North has been underinvested in. And while progress has been made, there is still so much more work to do,” said Hayes, who represents the area. “That’s why the mayor, governor and I are committed to more than just temporary fixes. We are working to deliver wraparound services that offer real opportunity, real healing and real changes. There are about 12 communities that connect to North Avenue, but North Avenue is the front door.”