Maryland is still in the grip of an opioid crisis that has ravaged the nation for years, but a fresh batch of statistics includes encouraging news.
Preliminary totals from last year, which are the most recent available, show opioid-related deaths in Maryland were up 5.2% from the year before. That was the slowest rate of increase since 2011.
“We’re also seeing very significant declines in fatalities from heroin and from prescription opiates,” said Steve Schuh, executive director of the state’s Opioid Operational Command Center (OOCC) which Gov. Larry Hogan established in 2017 by executive order.
Heroin-related deaths were down for a second straight year, dropping 23.7%.
Prescription opioid-related deaths also dropped for a second year in a row. They were down 10.2% in 2018.
Schuh said it appears that heroin is falling out of favor, but the threat from fentanyl remains strong as drug dealers mix it with other drugs, and buyers don’t know exactly what they’re getting.
“Fentanyl is everywhere, and you cannot see it, you cannot smell it, but it can kill you,” Schuh said.
Fentanyl-related deaths jumped 17.1% last year, although the rate of increase slowed for the second straight year.
Fentanyl is largely blamed for a big jump in cocaine-related deaths last year. They increased 27.9%, the third straight year of significant increases.
The figures come from the OOCC’s 2018 annual report.
