Opioid Crisis: Anne Arundel County Exec to Address Heroin Epidemic

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Some of Maryland's leading lawmakers, including Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh, plan to share how they are addressing the crisis of opioid addiction across the state.

He will join county executives from Harford and Howard counties, as well as Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford, at the Oct. 4 "Tri-County Opioids Addiction Summit" in Clarksville. The summit will feature panels discussing public health partnerships, drug court programs, the neurobiology of addiction, and law enforcement collaboration.

Each county executive will outline their jurisdictions efforts to addressing the growing opioid crisis, while Rutherford will outline statewide efforts to combat opioid and heroin abuse. WBAL radio sports personality Keith Mills will deliver the keynote address outlining his personal battle with addiction.

Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare penned a letter early this year that officers give to drug addicts they arrest and overdose victim they deal with on the streets. Its message is simple: Drug treatment is always available to help.

“We have had to look too many mothers in the eye and tell them their child is gone,” Altomare wrote. …“It takes a lot of courage to seek help. … Drug treatment can work. People recover from addiction every day. WE BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT BUT WE CAN’T DO IT FOR YOU.”

At the end of the letter is a resource: Addicts who are seeking help are urged to call the county's WARMLINE at 410-768-5522. It is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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As of Aug. 31, Anne Arundel County has seen 566 overdoses; double the 249 total for 2015. Of this year’s overdoses, 79 cases have been fatal and 487 have not, police said.

In Maryland, state health officials said that 86 percent of all overdose deaths last year involved opioids, and the number of fatalities was rising.

Heroin-related deaths increased by 29 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; there were 748 heroin-related deaths recorded in 2015 in Maryland, compared with 578 in 2014. From January to June 2016, Maryland saw 920 deaths related to overdose, 319 more than this point last year.

Rutherford will outline how state officials are working to combat addiction in Maryland, where the governor recently put $3 million toward combating the heroin epidemic, with money funding new positions such as intelligence coordinators and peer recovery specialists in jurisdictions across the state.

• Know someone who needs help? The state has set up a webpage for Marylanders seeking help with addiction and also runs the 24-hour-a-day Maryland Crisis Hotline at 1-800-422-000.

The Tri-County Opioids Addiction Summit will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Ten Oaks Ballroom, 5000 Signal Bell Lane, Clarksville.

Photo of heroin courtesy of DEA website