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Baltimore leaders will be putting naloxone boxes at metro stations in an effort to limit drug overdoses throughout the city. Mayor Brandon Scott and other community advocates will meet on Monday morning to place a set of boxes at the Penn North Metro Station, in the neighborhood where there were three mass overdoses within four months. Baltimore City is partnering with the Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) for the overdose prevention initiative. What is naloxone? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), naloxone is a medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose and, in turn, save lives. The CDC says naloxone can reverse the effects of these opioids -- heroin, morphine, oxycodone, methadone, fentanyl, hydrocodone, codeine, and hydromorphone How do you use naloxone? Naloxone can restore normal breathing within two to three minutes in a person whose breathing has slowed, or even stopped, as a result of an opioid overdose, according to the CDC. Naloxone can be administered by nasal spray or injection. The CDC recommends starting with one dose of naloxone and waiting two to three minutes to see if breathing returns to normal before giving a second dose. Baltimore's recent mass overdoses Baltimore emergency responders were called to three mass overdose incidents within four months in the Penn North neighborhood. On October 8, 11 people reportedly overdosed, and seven of them were treated at the hospital. Naloxone was administered to multiple people. Last week, the Baltimore Banner reported that medetomidine, a powerful veterinary sedative, was found in two drug samples that were collected. More than 30 people were hospitalized after two mass overdoses were reported in the West Baltimore neighborhood back in July. The first incident on July 10 sent 27 people to the hospital. Nearly one week later, five more people overdosed in the same community, police said. According to officers, there was no evidence to suggest the two incidents were related. Overdose deaths in Baltimore Overdose deaths declined by 25% between 2023 and 2024, according to data from the Baltimore City Health Department. Baltimore reported 778 overdose deaths in 2024, compared to 1,043 overdose deaths in 2023. Through September this year, there have been 362 overdose deaths reported in Baltimore, according to data from the Maryland Health Department.
