Heroin Death Toll in Harford Exceeds 2014 Total

BEL AIR, MD — Heroin overdose data is on display in one more location in Bel Air, and the numbers are jarring. The county has seen more fatalities from the drug than it had in all of 2014, and it's only August.

In its ongoing public awareness campaign to combat heroin use, the Harford County Sheriff's Office recently gave Maryland State Police Lt. Tim Mullin, commander of the Bel Air barrack, a sign featuring the latest number of overdoses in the county.

There have been 25 fatal and 162 nonfatal heroin overdoses so far this year, police reported this week.

That is nearly the number of fatal overdoses reported in all of 2015 in Harford County, where 27 people died from heroin last year.

In 2014, there were 23 heroin-related fatal overdoses in Harford County.

Harford County Sheriff Gahler and the H.O.P.E. (Heroin Overdose Prevention Effort) work group jointly presented the sign with the overdose numbers to Mullin. It may look familiar — it was unveiled at the Harford County Farm Fair. Since the conclusion of the fair, police said the sign has been outside the barrack on US 1.

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Each week, the sheriff's office has been updating a similar sign outside its headquarters on Main Street to reflect the number of fatal and nonfatal overdoses in Harford County.

In early May, the sign read that there had been nine fatal overdoses, meaning that the drug has claimed 16 lives in the county in the three months since then.

For the first time in county history, Harford this year put money toward combating the heroin problem specifically, setting aside $100,000. It launched a public awareness campaign and put programs in place to support those moving from active addiction into recovery, winning national recognition for innovation.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan this week also announced he was putting $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, including Harford County.

Photo Credit: Maryland State Police.