This story was originally published by Mobtown Mag.
Victims of the overdose crisis deserve to be honored — and so do those in the arduous process of addiction recovery.
That was the message at Baltimore’s Eager Park on Thursday, where Mobilize Recovery, a Las Vegas-based nonprofit, visited the epicenter of the nation’s overdose crisis as part of a nationwide bus tour aiming to give hope to those working through the throes of addiction.
“We are all here with a shared mission, and that’s to help save lives,” said Garrett Hade, a recovery addict and co-founder of Mobilize Recovery. “Without collaborating with one another, without bringing harm reduction groups, without bringing resources, without bringing treatment providers and mental health services all into one place, people would not have the access to help they need.”
The organization’s stop in Baltimore came as many who are struggling with addiction go without treatment because of barriers to access such as a lack of local facilities or inadequate finances.
A 2022 study showed that, amid an ongoing overdose crisis, 43% of those with substance use disorders are untreated.
But those who provide services in Baltimore showed up in numbers on Thursday, with about two dozen local addiction and mental health organizations providing naloxone and other harm reduction resources.
They were joined by multiple speakers, including Emily Keller, special secretary of the Maryland Office of Overdose Response, who has been tasked with leading the state’s response to the overdose crisis.
“Recovery Month may have ended a few weeks ago, but I think it’s fitting we’re doing this in October because we know recovery doesn’t just stop in September, and the work doesn’t stop,” Keller said. “So to keep this going and make sure that Maryland is a place where we can recover is one of our priorities in this administration.”
Maryland ranks third in the country for the rate at which residents are admitted into drug and alcohol treatment programs, according to a study published earlier this year.
It also lags behind 11 states in terms of access to addiction treatment, although Baltimore has a relatively large amount of treatment facilities, with 112 programs within city limits, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Monica White, president of the Maryland Addiction & Behavioral-Health Professionals Certification Board, said those who are seeking treatment deserve to be celebrated.
She also bucked any misconception that Baltimore must be defined by its drug problem.
“We are not the heroin capital,” White said. “We’re the recovery capital.”
The emphasis on recovery comes as local officials have also highlighted the need to address addiction. The calls from state and city leaders have manifested in historical investments.
Gov. Wes Moore and Mayor Brandon Scott earlier this year signed budgets that included increased investments in addiction programs, and both the state and city will receive millions of dollars from opioid settlements to bolster their efforts.
Scott’s administration decided to pursue the litigation separately, and it’s slated to receive at least $400 million from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors, with another significant sum possible if the city wins its ongoing lawsuit against two remaining companies. The trial is currently underway.
Those dollars could substantially increase access to treatment for Baltimoreans. And access is key, said Rev. Kim Lagree, CEO of Healing City Baltimore.
Lagree spoke about the murder of her brother in Baltimore and her family’s struggles with addiction, which highlighted the need for community support, she said.
“Growing up here, at the heart of all of this, people are hurting and need hope,” Lagree said. “They need access to culturally relevant health care options and trauma and mental health treatment.”
The fight for access to treatment is only one of local leaders’ tools to address an unprecedented overdose crisis in Baltimore, which has the highest death rate in the nation.
With the increases in funding, they also hope to bolster local harm reduction programs, such as those that provide access to naloxone and medications such as buprenorphine.
Meanwhile, the balance between services for those who are trying to get sober and those who want to use drugs as safely as possible comes at a critical juncture in the city’s crisis.
The city saw an increase in total overdose deaths last year despite a nationwide decrease for the first time in five years. Maryland as a whole also saw a decrease.
There were 2,513 deaths statewide in 2023, a 2.5% decrease from the year prior, yet Baltimore had 1,045 deaths, an increase of 5.7%, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
The most recent data shows that Baltimore had a death rate of 144.6 deaths per 100,000 people in the 12-month period ending in August, based on 2020 U.S. Census data, more than quadrupling the statewide average and dwarfing the death rates of other counties.
The 12-month total of 847 deaths, however, is also a notable decrease from previous periods, when the numbers often exceeded 1,000.
With 500 overdose deaths as of August this year in Baltimore, the city is on track to have fewer than 800 deaths by the end of 2024 — a number that would mark a significant drop but would require the death rate to remain steady, despite studies showing an increase in fatalities during colder months.
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