Deaths by overdoses of heroin or prescription opioids in Baltimore are alarmingly more frequent: about 25% more people in the city died of heroin overdoses last year than in 2013, and the numbers are growing. State and local officials have been scrambling to figure out a way to stem the surge in overdoses. Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake convened a task force to study the problem and propose solutions. Those recommendations will be released later today. With Sheilah now to give us a preview of them is Baltimore City’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Leana Wen.
We will have links to the recommendations here by the end of the day.
Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene created an Overdose Response Program in March 2014 to provide training on how to administer naloxone, the life-saving drug that can prevent an opioid overdose. The training is targeting people most likely to come into contact with those at risk of an opioid overdose. There will be a training in Baltimore County on Tuesday, July 21st, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Sollers Point Multipurpose Center.
