As fentanyl-related fatalities soar, Baltimore's strategy for reducing overdose deaths through harm reduction initiatives could be a model for the state Maryland is facing an epidemic of overdose deaths linked to drugs mixed with the painkiller fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 30 to 50 times more powerful than unadulterated heroin. Fentanyl-related deaths account for nearly a quarter of fatal drug overdoses statewide - up from just 4 percent two years ago - and now exceed the number of deaths linked to cocaine and alcohol. [continues 646 words]
Amid a statewide surge in overdoses, Baltimore health officials announced a campaign Monday to tell heroin users that the drug they buy on the street could contain the much more potent painkiller fentanyl. The synthetic opiod, which federal officials say is 30 to 50 times more powerful than heroin, is blamed in the deaths of hundreds of drug users nationwide since 2013. Health, law enforcement and counselors began issuing warnings more than a year ago, but have not been able to stem overdoses. [continues 736 words]
Harden Also Ordered to Perform Community Service A former Baltimore County police officer who pleaded guilty in a drug case will avoid jail time and instead face probation and community service. Joseph Stanley Harden, 32, was sentenced Monday to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service. He could have received seven years of incarceration after he pleaded guilty in April to attempted fourth-degree burglary and possession of oxycodone. In July 2014, Harden was accused of trying to kick in the door of a drug dealer in Dundalk to steal drugs. Harden announced that he was a police officer while trying to get into the dealer's home, and prosecutors said such actions endanger the credibility of other officers. [continues 427 words]
With the state publishing draft regulations for medical marijuana and an infrastructure for growing and distributing it coming into view, Marylanders who suffer from chronic pain or debilitating disease could gain access to the drug by the middle of next year. The rules developed by the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, which cover doctor registration, licensing, fees and other concerns, were published last week. The state is accepting public comment on the rules through July 27. "This is a big step in the right direction," said Del. Dan K. Morhaim, a physician who championed the legalization of medical marijuana in the General Assembly. "This should make the program operational, though there should be adjustments every year or so for the next few years as we learn from our experience." [continues 685 words]
Opium Poppies Offer Small Growers in Mexico a Living - and Cartels Cash CHILPANCINGO, Mexico - Mario moves quickly and easily down the steep forested hill. After a 30minute descent the tree cover clears, and the sun shines down onto the hidden red and purple flowers dotting the hillsides in the Filo Mayor mountains. Producers in Mexico's Guerrero state call their clandestine poppy plots "gardens." What they raise there is highly marketable - and illicit. Many of the flowers have no petals; they are simply plump, graying bulbs full of opium, ready for slicing. [continues 990 words]
Drugs don't cause violence, prohibition does. A well meaning reader recently addressed the problem of gang-related violence in the city ("Reducing the number addicts is the key to reducing violence," June 4). The author suggested that the ongoing warfare causing such havoc is primarily due to the demand for addictive drugs. Not so: The violence is not due to the demand for these substances, it is due to the prohibition of these substances. Prohibition has never worked.Essentially all it does is create demand.However there's been plenty of violence with the distribution or use of tobacco.This was created by implementing the useless policies contained in the WHO's Convention on Tobacco Control.The high tobacco taxes cause... [continues 402 words]
Decision Invalidating Plea May Save Him From Serving a 20-Year Prison Term A 31-year-old man who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Baltimore after he pleaded guilty to possessing 5.9 grams of marijuana won an appeal Wednesday invalidating the plea - raising the possibility that he will be released. Ronald Hammond took the plea in the 2012 case after Baltimore District Judge Askew Gatewood told prosecutors that "5.9 grams won't roll you a decent joint" and suggested Hammond accept the plea and pay a fine. [continues 395 words]
The most encouraging words spoken at the recent Baltimore Summit on Maryland's heroin problem were made by the person charged with leading the state's pushback on this evil drug and the terrible consequences it bestows on the community, the family and the taxpayer. Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford correctly defined the most overlooked problem in the state's decades-long war with substance abuse. He said, "I am beginning to learn that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this problem." [continues 580 words]
Like any other business, the drug trade in Baltimore is based on supply and demand ("Baltimore's deadly May," June1). Presently, the demand is so great that at least three major gangs are fighting a violent turf war to control the distribution and sale of drugs. That war that is the direct cause of the marked increase in lethal violence in Baltimore over the last three months. The key to reducing the violence is to reduce the number of addicts. Using drugs is a choice. Not using drugs is also a choice. Only when folks make the healthy choice will the violence that plagues this city be reduced in a meaningful way. Marc Raim, Baltimore [end]
As rightly concerned and upset as we are about the fatal injuries Freddie Gray suffered in police custody, we ought to be just as concerned about the body count that existed prior to his death and has been on the rise ever since (there have been roughly three dozen homicides in Baltimore since Gray died, not counting the many wounded). We have come to accept daily community violence as background noise. What's going on, and what can be done? Sadly, every city and region has well-established lines of distribution of illegal drugs and narcotics. Addicts need their drugs once or several times a day, and there's a global network established to satisfy that craving. It starts overseas, where opium and cocaine are processed and then sent to virtually every community and street corner in the U.S. The billions of dollars spent to buy drugs are funneled back to the drug cartels via financial mechanisms that would rival a Wall Street investment bank. [continues 649 words]
During the Baltimore riots, I was traveling in Europe. Usually when people from other countries and states ask where I'm from, I get a blank stare and then I reply that it's near Washington, D.C. No explanation was required this time - Baltimore was worldwide front page news ("Business damage from Baltimore riot estimated at $9M," May 13). However, the reports made it sound like we were living in a police state and black people were being gunned down in the streets by out-of-control policemen and military men shooting from large armored vehicles. [continues 175 words]
Aging Population of Inmates Serving Long Sentences Takes a Toll on Budgets COLEMAN PRISON, Fla. - Twenty-one years into his nearly 50-year sentence, the graying man steps inside his stark cell in the largest federal prison complex in America. He wears special medical boots because of a foot condition that makes walking feel as if he's "stepping on a needle." He has undergone tests for a suspected heart condition and sometimes experiences vertigo. "I get dizzy sometimes when I'm walking," says the 63-year-old inmate, Bruce Harrison. "One time, I just couldn't get up." [continues 955 words]
When Ronald Hammond appeared in a Baltimore courtroom on a charge of possessing 5.9 grams of marijuana, the judge scoffed at the case. District Judge Askew Gatewood told the prosecutor that "5.9 grams won't roll you a decent joint," according to a transcript of the 2012 case. "Why would I want to spend taxpayers' money putting his little raggedy butt in jail - feeding him, clothing him, cable TV, Internet, prayer, medical expense, clothing - on $5 worth of weed?" [continues 1343 words]
Light Punishment for Negligent Agents Spurs Call for Reform WASHINGTON - Obama administration officials and lawmakers are calling for greater accountability and tougher disciplinary procedures at the Drug Enforcement Administration after the agency only lightly punished agents who nearly killed a 23-yearold San Diego man by forgetting him in a holding cell for five days with no food or water. Daniel Chong, a University of California at San Diego student, was detained in 2012 for what he was told would be five minutes after he was swept up in a drug bust at a friend's house, where he had been smoking marijuana. Agents forgot about him, forcing Chong to drink his own urine to stave off dehydration until he was discovered delirious and suffering from severe breathing problems, according to a Justice Department Office of Inspector General report last summer. [continues 416 words]
Freddie Gray's Death Has Sparked Discussions of Many Injustices, but at Its Heart Is the Breakdown in Relations Between Police and the Community The death of Freddie Gray and the riots that followed have brought Baltimore's problems to the forefront of national, even international, attention. The drug addiction, poverty, failing schools, health disparities, deteriorating housing, broken families and unemployment that plague neighborhoods like the one where Gray lived and was arrested in have been on full display, and they have become a part of the larger discussion about what it would mean to bring about justice in the wake of his death. [continues 1340 words]
Your editorial "Why Freddie Gray ran" (April 25) did an exceptional job of capturing the problem facing not only Sandtown-Winchester but much of black America. I lived in Sandtown-Winchester for 35 years and taught in the Baltimore City Public Schools for 40 years. My experiences tell me that changing the social conditions in poor and minority communities, not policing, is the answer to our crime problem. If we end the war on drugs and work to address the problems that it caused we can make our state and nation better, safer places for us all. [continues 117 words]
Complaint Says They Stole Hundreds of Thousands in Probe of Drug Website Attorneys for the former federal agents said they were innocent but declined further comment. Two former federal agents in Baltimore who led an undercover hunt for the head of an online drug marketplace called Silk Road have been charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars during the investigation. The agents, Carl M. Force, 46, a 15-year veteran of the Drug Enforcement Administration who resigned last year, and Shaun W. Bridges, 32, a special agent with the Secret Service who resigned this month, made their first appearances in court Monday after the unsealing of the criminal complaint in California. [continues 1257 words]
Kudos to reporter Jean Marbella for excellent writing that gave a human face to the scourge of heroin addiction in Baltimore ("Baltimore County family struggles with impact of heroin's grip," March 21). I applaud The Sun for giving prime space to a timely feature story that could influence Marylanders to become more conscious of the depth of this problem and more resolved to mitigate it. For several weeks, we have read current facts and statistics about heroin abuse. Your feature story has the potential to inspire concerted action from state and city leaders, corrections officials, business executives and the leaders of religious, educational, social welfare and neighborhood leaders across the region. We need a "full-court press" on this problem. [continues 105 words]
Drug and alcohol addiction is a sad but increasingly commonplace story ("Baltimore County family struggles with impact of heroin's grip," March 21). For a long time I believed addiction was simply a problem of a lack of willpower on the user's part. I thought it resulted from poor judgment and personal character flaws. But as I became aware of the nefarious nature of addiction, I realized it is not a moral issue but truly an illness. I am praying for the family mentioned in your article, and for all others who are struggling with addiction. Tom Holmes, Lutherville [end]
In August 2012, law enforcement stopped Mandrel Stuart, the owner of a small barbecue restaurant in Virginia, for a minor traffic violation. During the routine traffic stop, $17,550 that Stuart had earned from his restaurant and intended to use for supplies and equipment was seized. Stuart was never charged with a crime and there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. He eventually got his money back, but since he lacked the cash to pay for overhead, he lost his business. [continues 600 words]
