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The state of Maryland's opioid problem seems to be getting worse. This is the reason why, state officials are saying that it has already reached crisis levels as another three people have died due to drug overdose.

Maryland Overdose Cases

The Maryland health officials have confirmed that two have died in Anne Arundel County and one from Frederick County in opioid overdoses. The state believes that the problem has reached crisis levels.

There was the Anne Arundel County incident, where the county police registered 16 calls of opioid overdoses where three were fatal in just 24 hours last Mar. Now, there is also the fact that the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has confirmed that there were 1,973 opioid-related deaths in 2016 which was almost double the death toll of 2015, Fox 45 News reported.

New Bills Enacted

With these statistics, the Maryland General Assembly enacted several bills to combat the crisis in its borders. They passed the Start Talking Maryland Act (HB1082) which requires schools to have a program that discusses drug addiction and the HOPE Act (HB1329), which would increase access to the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, establish a crisis treatment center, and require health care providers to create a new protocol when discharging a patient from opioid-related overdoses, WMUR reported.

Citizens of Maryland are also taking action by creating advocacy groups focusing on saving the children from the opioid epidemic. State officials are blaming the ease of access to the street drug fentanyl for the increase in the number of overdoses.

Officials believe that the dealers are mixing the drug that originates from China into regular heroin. The low street price also compounds to the problem because it makes it easier for people to buy, even those at the lower income bracket.

The state has received support from the federal government in the form of a $10 million grant from the 21^st Century Cures Act, which aims to accelerate the discovery, development and delivery of 21^st century cures. Stay tuned for more details.