Washington County had state’s second highest increase in opioid-related deaths | Local News

“It’s the fentanyl,” she said.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It was developed to treat pain in cancer patients.

Drug dealers mix fentanyl with heroin to cut costs and increase potency. Many users believe they are purchasing heroin and actually don’t know it’s fentanyl, which often results in overdose deaths.

Clandestinely produced fentanyl is primarily manufactured in Mexico.

According to statistics released recently by Maryland’s Opioid Operational Command Center, Washington County had 51 opioid-related deaths in 2017 and 80 opioid-related deaths in 2018.

For total deaths, Washington County ranked sixth in Maryland in 2018. Baltimore City had 798, Baltimore County had 348, Anne Arundel had 217, Prince George’s had 92 and Harford had 90.

Baltimore City, with 106, had the highest increase in opioid-related deaths from 2017 to 2018.

Statistics from the Washington County Narcotics Task Force show that 347 people — 220 in the city of Hagerstown and 127 elsewhere in the county — overdosed on heroin or fentanyl in 2018.

Sixty-three of those overdoses were fatal.

Sterling said county health officials are using several methods to help decrease the number of opioid-related deaths.

She said the health department is trying to convince physicians to drastically cut back on the opioids they prescribe. Many addicts claim their problems started after they became addicted to opioids prescribed to manage pain.

The health department also is working with Washington County Public Schools, Sterling said, to teach children about the dangers of opioids.

In addition, health officials are counting on a 24-hour crisis center slated to open by mid-June on North Burhans Boulevard in Hagerstown.

Sterling said a $1.2 million state grant will help the health department open the center for people struggling with mental illness or substance-abuse problems.

The proposed center, with space for 12 to 15 people at a time, will be in an underused portion of the county health department’s Behavior Health Services office at 925 N. Burhans Blvd., in the Rite Aid shopping center.

Several unused rooms will be office and examination space. Others will be converted to lounge areas for patients who need support, but don’t require emergency medical attention.

A goal of the crisis center is to cut down on trips to the local emergency room and the toll on first responders.

Sterling said ambulance crews can take certain patients to the center instead of the emergency room.

Total statewide opioid-related spending reached $672 million in fiscal year 2019 and is proposed to increase to $747 million in in fiscal year 2020, according to the state’s Opioid Operational Command Center.

By fiscal year 2020, the total statewide opioid-related spending will have increased 68 percent since fiscal year 2017, when Gov. Larry Hogan declared a state of emergency in connection with heroin and opioids.