Annual cocaine overdose deaths on rise in Maryland

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland—Cocaine hasn’t received as much attention in recent years, but it is increasingly playing a role in the opioid epidemic, state data show.

Despite some good news from the first quarter of this year, cocaine-related deaths have skyrocketed annually in Maryland since 2015, with nearly half of those occurring in Baltimore. The vast majority of those deaths — 82%, according to the Maryland Department of Health — involved fentanyl, a powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid.

“Cocaine is making a comeback,” said Lt. Michael Ashburn Sr., commander of the narcotics and special investigations section of the Anne Arundel County Police Department, told Capital News Service.

More