By Salim Addrey
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Unintentional intoxication deaths involving all types of drugs and alcohol increased 16% in Maryland last year when compared with 2019, state health officials said in a newly released study.
The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Opioid Operational Command Center (OOCC) on Tuesday released their 2020 Annual Report on the opioid crisis in Maryland but also included preliminary data detailing increases in opioid- and other substance-related fatalities amid the coronavirus pandemic. There were 2,773 unintentional intoxication deaths involving all types of drugs and alcohol in Maryland between January and December of 2020 as opposed to the 2,379 reported in 2019.
“This has been a challenging year for us all,” Gov. Larry Hogan said in a press release announcing the report, “and Americans suffering from substance use disorder have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Our administration will not waver one iota in its efforts to combat the opioid crisis in Maryland.
“Just as we have made tremendous progress against COVID-19, I am confident that we will work together to reverse the recent trend in opioid-related fatalities,” Hogan added.
Officials said that the coronavirus pandemic has contributed greatly to the opiate use and death increases and noted that, across the country, COVID-19 has disrupted treatment and recovery support systems. The pandemic also has led to economic stress, despair, and uncertainty, especially among vulnerable populations, officials said.
Opioids were involved in 90.1% of all substance use-related intoxication fatalities last year, a higher annual proportion of such deaths than at any other time during the opioid crisis. There was a total of 2,499 opioid-related fatalities last year, an increase of 18.7% from 2019. This increase was largely driven by the growing prevalence of fentanyl, which was involved in 93.1% of all opioid-related deaths, a historic high, officials said. In 2020. 2,326 overdose deaths involved fentanyl, an increase of 20.7%.
There also was an increase in deaths involving prescription opioids for the first time since 2016. There were 445 fatalities reported, a 20.6% increase compared to 369 reported in the prior year. Heroin was the only major substance category that saw a decrease. Heroin-related deaths decreased by 25.2%, a continuation of a trend that began in 2017.
The Opioid Center’s report included specific data on opioid-related overdose deaths categorized by age, race, and ethnicity, and gender. While data show that opioid-related fatalities increased across all demographic groups last year, Black Marylanders have seen a disproportionate share of such fatalities in recent years, officials said.
The report also provided an overview of the Inter-Agency Opioid Coordination Plan, which details goals and strategies to advance Hogan’s policy priorities of prevention and education, enforcement and public safety, and treatment and recovery. The Coordination Plan identified nine goals with accompanying strategies and tactics to combat opioid misuse.
This year, the new Racial Disparities Task Force, chaired by Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford and supervised by the Inter-Agency Heroin and Opioid Coordinating Council, began its work to promote equitable health outcomes by investigating contributing factors and proposing solutions to eliminate racial disparities related to overdose fatalities in the Black community, officials said.
“Many factors can lead to disparate health outcomes, including stigma, education, poverty, and trauma,” Rutherford said. “Marylanders of any race, age, or gender can find themselves without access to needed treatment as a result.
“Collecting data that shows us some groups are at a significant risk of dying as a result of substance use disorder is a first step. We must respond with action. The Racial Disparities Task Force will help us determine what must be done to address this epidemic and the needs of those communities,” he added.
The state’s efforts to respond to the increased number of fatalities include continued inter-agency coordination, development of initiatives targeting gaps in treatment, and enhanced recovery services for vulnerable communities, officials said.
“At this time last year, we saw a decline in statewide overdose fatalities,” said Steve Schuh, executive director of the OOCC. “It was the first time in over a decade that we could report seeing that modest, but vital, first step.
“Our ability to capture the detailed data outlined in the report helps us to identify where we succeeded in the past, when we can retrace our steps, and how we can improve our responses,” Schuh said.