Montgomery County leaders on Monday asked the state for funds to create a residential substance use treatment center for youths, amid a fatal overdose crisis.
The Montgomery County Council and County Executive Marc Elrich sent a joint letter to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore requesting an unspecified amount of state funding be used to launch the new facility. Maryland has no medical facilities that specialize in youth overdose stabilization, according to the letter.
“This is a crisis that we’re facing, and it’s really heartbreaking,” said Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6), who penned the letter. She called youth fentanyl overdoses the “number one issue that’s kept me up at night” since joining the council in December. When she sent the letter to her fellow councilmembers, she said they all signed off on it within minutes.
Youth substance use has been a rising concern across the county as officials report overdoses are on the rise among minors, and students report rampant drug use in school bathrooms. Narcan has been administered 13 times in public schools so far this school year, according to MCPS spokesperson Jessica Baxter. In March, a Quince Orchard student overdosed in a McDonald’s bathroom during school hours and received emergency Narcan. Days later in Glenmont, police seized hundreds of fentanyl pills from a Silver Spring man.
According to the officials’ letter, Montgomery County “desperately needs a facility that can provide medical and behavioral health stabilization for youth, as well as robust discharge planning to appropriate inpatient, outpatient and community-based services.” The letter also asks officials to conduct a statewide assessment measuring the need for inpatient detox treatment and any related gaps in services.
“The County is seeing a significant increase in emergency services for youth due to fentanyl poisoning,” county officials wrote, citing 2022 data showing a 150% increase in overdose-related emergency room visits from the previous year and a 141% increase in the use of Narcan by emergency personnel.
Laura Mitchell has been spearheading the push for substance use awareness as a leader with local nonprofit Montgomery Goes Purple. Recently the group has partnered with the school district and others to sponsor a series of free family forums providing education and resources related to substance use prevention and recovery.
“This surge in youth overdoses I attribute largely to a combination of stress returning to school after the pandemic coupled with mental health struggles,” Mitchell said. “No matter how much students do, there’s still a learning loss and they can’t seem to catch up.”
She added that fentanyl is often made to look like Adderall or Percocet pills, and students may not realize what they’re taking. She said the drug is so powerful that someone could experience symptoms of addiction after just one use.
At the Northwood family forum held in February, Fani-González said a breakout group of around 50 Spanish-speaking families engaged in a tearful discussion about the need for substance use recovery services for minors, with many parents saying they couldn’t find help for their struggling students anywhere in the state.
In late January, Fani-González met with the mother of a 15-year-old Kennedy High School student who suffered a fatal fentanyl-related overdose in December. The two met at Aspen Hill Library and talked for over an hour, Fani-González said.
“She couldn’t stop crying. She told me that her daughter was using drugs for a while and was trying to get to a place where she could get clean. They’re a low-income family. She kept looking for help and she couldn’t find it—and now her daughter is gone,” she said.
The governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MoCo360. Fani-González said she’s looking forward to a response from the governor and will be following the progress of their request closely.
“I’m going to be on top of this, believe me,” she said.
