September 18, 2024
Originally published by WBAL.
A Johns Hopkins University study reveals the extent of the opioid epidemic among Baltimore residents.
Hopkins data from the 2023 Baltimore Area Survey found drug overdoses disproportionately affect the poorest and least-educated residents of Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
The data found more than half of the city’s adults who did not graduate high school know someone who died from a drug overdose — that’s higher than any other socioeconomic group in the region.
“Overdose deaths leave a lasting mark on the people left behind,” lead author Michael Bader, an associate professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins and faculty director of the 21st Century Cities Initiative, said in a statement. “As a community, we live and work in a place where every fourth person we meet is carrying around a profound loss from overdose.”