As of the end of October 2020, Anne Arundel County has seen an increase in opioid overdoses year-to-date, both fatal and non-fatal. This change follows a significant decrease from 2018 to 2019 as shown in the chart below.
There have also been more than 80 overdoses per month since July 2020, which is especially concerning when compared with the previous three years in which numbers trended downward from 80 over the same time period.
What Are Opioids?
Opiates/opioids are drugs that are used to relieve pain because of the way they suppress the central nervous system. This method of pain treatment causes many individuals to become tolerant of the drug. When this happens, a higher dose of the drug is needed to achieve the same pain-relieving effect. For many people, this is how addiction begins.
Opioid Overdose Response Training: Naloxone is a prescription medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose to prevent death. Save a life by learning how to identify signs of an overdose and administer naloxone. Go to aahealth.org/events/oort to register.
