Steven R. Schuh Executive Director Opioid Operational Command Center Office of the Governor released the following message:
I am pleased to share the Opioid Operational Command Center’s (OOCC) 2019 Third Quarter (Q3) Report.
This report outlines Maryland’s most recent intoxication fatalities data, and it provides updates on key elements of our response to the heroin and opioid crisis that is devastating our state.
This report highlights important milestones of that work, including the Maryland Inter-Agency Opioid Coordinating Plan, which is the annual strategic plan guiding the state’s response to the opioid crisis. The coordinating plan provides an overview of the opioid crisis, its effect on Maryland, and our state’s response. Most importantly, the plan outlines the goals, strategies, and objectives that will guide our response to the opioid epidemic in the coming year. The OOCC has also cataloged over 129 model programs from across the state in the Opioid Use Disorder Program Inventory.
This document serves as a “best of” guide to the work that local jurisdictions are implementing to mitigate the threat that opioids pose to our communities. This is a fight that we are determined to win.
The total number of unintentional intoxication deaths from all types of drugs and alcohol in Maryland in between January and September was 1,774, a decrease of 4.0 percent when compared to the first nine months of 2018. Opioids accounted for 88.7 percent of all such fatalities. Most drug- and alcohol-related fatalities involved more than one substance. Fentanyl played a role in 81 percent of all intoxication related fatalities.
The number of opioid-related deaths in Maryland in the first nine months of 2019 was 1,574. This was a decrease of 4.8 percent from the same time period in 2018.
The number of fentanyl-related deaths in Maryland in the first nine months of 2019 was 1,436, a decrease of 1.1 percent as compared to the same period in 2018. Fentanyl and its analogs accounted for approximately 91 percent of all opioid-related fatalities in the first nine months of 2019.
The number of cocaine-related deaths in Maryland decreased by 8.0 percent in the first nine months of 2019 when compared to the same period in 2018. The total number of cocaine-related deaths in the first nine months of 2019 was 643, making cocaine the second-most prevalent drug involved in drug and alcohol-related deaths. Approximately 90 percent of all cocaine-related fatalities during the first nine months of 2019 were in combination with opioids.
Heroin-related fatalities during the first nine months of 2019 totaled 571, which represented a 12.7 percent decrease when compared to the same period in 2018. This decrease was a continuation of a trend that began in 2017.
There were 278 prescription opioid-related deaths in Maryland in the first nine months of 2019. This is a 2.5 percent decline when compared to the same period in 2018. The decline in prescription deaths in Maryland began in 2017.
There were 82 benzodiazepine-related fatalities in the first nine months of 2019, a decrease of approximately 18 percent as compared to the same period in 2018. Nearly all benzodiazepine-related fatalities in the first nine months of 2019 were in combination with opioids. While we are pleased to see a decline in benzodiazepine-related deaths, we are monitoring the increased use of both benzodiazepines as well as methamphetamine in various parts of the state.
There were 29 methamphetamine-related deaths in the first nine months of 2019, an increase of 26.1 percent compared to the first nine months of 2018. The vasts majority of the methamphetamine deaths in the first nine months of 2019 were in combination with opioids.
All 24 local jurisdictions in Maryland experienced opioid-related fatalities in the first nine months of 2019. Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and Anne Arundel County experienced the highest number of fatalities, which collectively accounted for 64.9 percent of all opioid-related deaths in Maryland in the first nine months of 2019.
The Opioid Operational Command Center’s (OOCC) goals and objectives for combating the opioid epidemic were adopted as part of the Inter-Agency Heroin and Opioid Coordinating Plan of October 2018. All goals and objectives align with the governor’s three policy priorities of Prevention & Education, Enforcement & Public Safety, and Treatment & Recovery. 4
The OOCC works with approximately 20 state-governmental partners and tracks 129 programs in its implementation of the statewide strategic plan. These programs and their implementation status are summarized beginning on Page 16.
The OOCC also works with all 24 local jurisdictions in Maryland to implement the statewide plan. The OOCC tracks 129 local-level programs, and this programming has been organized into groups that reflect the governor’s policy priorities. The OOCC monitors the extent to which opioid intervention teams (OITs) have implemented these high-priority programs and initiatives. All jurisdictions are making progress in implementing these programs. 20 of 24 local jurisdictions have implemented at least half of these critical programs.
The State of Maryland has made a major budgetary commitment to combating the opioid epidemic. Total statewide opioid-related spending reached $846.7 million in fiscal year 2019 and is projected to increase to $958.1 million in fiscal year 2020. Total statewide spending includes all opioid-related spending by all agencies from all funding sources. These figures are based on agencies’ reports on resources that have been devoted to opioid-related issues.
One component of the overall statewide budgetary commitment to the opioid epidemic is “opioid crisis spending,” which represents only those new funding streams that have been established since March 2017 (including Governor Hogan’s March 2017 commitment of $50 million over five years beginning in fiscal year 2018). These Opioid Crisis Funds were $51.6 million in fiscal year 2019 and are budgeted at $93.5 million in fiscal year 2020, an increase of 81.3 percent. OOCC Opioid Crisis Funds provide financial support for nearly 120 statewide and local projects. In fiscal year 2020, 55 of these grant projects fell into the area of Prevention & Education, eight fell into the area of Enforcement & Public Safety, and 56 fell into the category of Treatment & Recovery.
