Pubdate: Sat, 3 Dec 2016
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2017 The Baltimore Sun Company
Contact:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/37

HEROIN OVERDOSES REACH NEW HIGH IN ANNAPOLIS, ANNE ARUNDEL

[photo] County police have tracked the location of opiod overdoses and
fatalities in 2016. (Anne Arundel County Police Department)

Heroin overdoses reach new high in Annapolis, Anne Arundel.

With less than one month left in 2016, the number of people killed by
heroin and opioid overdoses in Annapolis and Anne Arundel has surpassed
that of the past two years combined.

County police Chief Timothy Altomare provided the latest overdose numbers
during a phone interview Friday morning. While Altomare touted County
Executive Steve Schuh's multifaceted approach to combating heroin by using
public health and educational resources in addition to law enforcement,
the police chief conceded that the drug continues to pose a significant
challenge in the county.

As of Dec. 1, 108 people had died from overdoses. That's compared to 43 in
2015; and 44 the previous year, Altomare said.

Overall, the number of fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the county has
increased some 145 percent from 2015.

There have been 837 overdoses so far this year, compared to 341 in 2015
and 373 in the previous year, Altomare said.

Altomare attributed the increases in part to the better reporting of
incidents by officers. Before then-county police Chief Kevin Davis started
making heroin a priority in 2014, officers were not responding along with
firefighters to each reported overdose in the county, Altomare noted.

As the early morning sun begins to warm the early morning air on the
Baltimore and Annapolis Trail, a group of runners is gathered, decked in
matching blue shirts.

It's the second annual Patrick Lee Memorial 5K Fun Run/Walk in Severna
Park. Named after the son of retired Annapolis police Officer...

As the early morning sun begins to warm the early morning air on the
Baltimore and Annapolis Trail, a group of runners is gathered, decked in
matching blue shirts.

It's the second annual Patrick Lee Memorial 5K Fun Run/Walk in Severna
Park. Named after the son of retired Annapolis police Officer... (Phil
Davis)

When Schuh came into office in December 2014, he renewed the county's
focus on heroin, declaring a state of emergency and assembling a special
task force to address the issue.

In addition to better reporting, Altomare also attributed the increase in
overdoses to more-potent synthetic opioids like Fentanyl and W-18.

Fentanyl is said to be 100 times more potent that typical street heroin.
W-18, which is brought into the country from China, is 100 times more
powerful than Fentanyl, according to Lt. Ryan Frashure, a county police
spokesman.

"We most certainly are seeing an increase in synthetic analogues,"
Altomare said. "The potency of the drugs is deadlier."

Anne Arundel County is on track to see triple the number of heroin deaths
as last year by the end of 2016, County Executive Steve Schuh said
Wednesday.

Forty-two people died of a heroin overdose in Anne Arundel in 2015. This
year, the death toll has raced past that figure: more than 100 people...

Anne Arundel County is on track to see triple the number of heroin deaths
as last year by the end of 2016, County Executive Steve Schuh said
Wednesday.

Forty-two people died of a heroin overdose in Anne Arundel in 2015. This
year, the death toll has raced past that figure: more than 100 people...
(Amanda Yeager)

In fall 2015, police announced the indictments of eight people in an
alleged drug ring operating out of Arnold, Millersville, and Glen Burnie
that's suspected of bringing millions of dollars of heroin and cocaine
into the county. The man whom police alleged to be the "ringleader" of the
operation, Andres Fernandez, 40, of Arnold, was sentenced to 25 years in
prison in March.

Yet, despite the historic bust, other drug traffickers have since stepped
in to fill the void in the local drug market, Altomare said.

While the county's heroin has historically come from neighboring
Baltimore, police believe that much of today's supply comes from as far as
Philadelphia and New York, the police chief said.

Altomare tied the heroin trade to violent gang activity in the county -- a
cornerstone of Schuh's 2014 campaign.

While the number of homicides so far in 2016 have remained relatively even
with those of the previous year, the county department has seen an uptick
in violent crimes that Altomare said was linked to the drug trade.

There have been 15 homicides in the county so far in 2016, compared to 18
the previous year.

Annapolis, which had one homicide in 2015, has seen its number of killings
reach its highest number in recorded history, at 10.

The county has stepped up its addiction treatment efforts in 2016.

In September, the county opened the Annapolis Addiction Center off of
Bestgate Road in Annapolis. One of the recommendations of Schuh's task
force was to establish heroin and opioid addiction services for the
underserved south county area.

The 10,000-square-foot facility has the ability to serve about 125 people.

The county has two other methadone clinics in its northern edge. The Adult
Addiction Center in Glen Burnie serves about 400 patients, and another 50
to 75 people receive treatment through the Road to Recovery Program at the
Ordnance Road Detention Center.

"We're still trying to draw the line between dealers and people fighting
addiction," Altomare said.

Despite the rise in deaths, police have also saved more lives from
overdoses in 2016, Altomare said.

County and Annapolis police officers administered the drug Naloxone 115
times in 2016, as opposed to 21 times the previous year, the police chief
said.

County first-responders initially started carrying the drug, a nasal spray
that counteracts the effects of overdose, in 2014.

"We've got some bad news, but we've got some good news too -- we're saving
more lives," Altomare said.

The police chief also credited the Maryland Good Samaritan Law for helping
to save lives. The law, which went into effect in fall 2015, provides
immunity from prosecution for those who summon medical help during an
overdose.

Six of the overdoses so far this year were of juveniles. None of those
incidents were fatal, Frashure said.

Altomare expressed his hope that the county's Not My Child educational
program would deter younger people from experimenting with the drugs. The
program consists of parents and recovering addicts who travel to community
associations and schools to educate the public about the dangers of
heroin.

The program, which began in 2015, has made presentations in nine out of 12
of the county schools' feeder systems. The program hopes to hold programs
in the remaining three -- in Broadneck, Annapolis and Glen Burnie -- in
2017, said Nancy Schrum, Schuh's director of community and constituent
services who spearheads the program.

Typically, heroin and opiate users in Anne Arundel tend to be white males
between the ages of 18 and 35, the police chief said.

"We have to really invest in preventing new users," Schrum said. "Once you
take yourself down that path you have that addiction for life -- it
doesn't go away."
- ---
MAP posted-by: