Baltimore faced a mass overdose emergency Thursday as more than two dozen people were hospitalized after suspected drug overdoses in the city's Penn North neighborhood. Emergency crews responded to an initial overdose report around 9am, only to be pointed to additional unconscious individuals in nearby locations. Police relied on witness and victim interviews and surveillance footage to find others who had overdosed. At least 13 medic units were dispatched, and 25 people were ultimately taken to hospitals—several in critical condition—but no fatalities were reported.
"I've never heard of anything of this scale," Penn North Recovery Center CEO Bill Brooks tells the Baltimore Banner. A rep for the Baltimore Harm Reduction Coalition advised drug users in the city to avoid substances that may have come from the Penn North area. She added, "If you're going to use, do so around people who have Narcan and know how to use it."
Authorities have not disclosed which drug triggered the incident, but the city is no stranger to overdose crises, having lost nearly 6,000 residents since 2018; the New York Times describes that as "a rate never before been seen in a major American city." The city's ongoing battle with fentanyl has drawn scrutiny. Thursday's mass overdose came just a day after the Baltimore City Council began public hearings focused on how the city is handling the issue, following a series of investigative reports by the Banner and the Times.
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