Drug overdoses sent five people to the hospital in Baltimore Friday, just days after another mass overdose event hospitalized 27.
Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said at a news conference that they received word about possible overdoses at around 8:55 a.m.
The five were then hospitalized, with two others refusing transportation.
Baltimore Police Department Commissioner Richard Worley said the victims were treated with Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, used to reverse an opioid overdose.
Mr. Worley added that police are working to find out who bought and sold the drugs that caused the overdoses and who brought the drugs into the Baltimore area.
The overdoses of the 27 people came on July 10. Authorities have not linked the two events.
“We’ll look at this as two separate investigations until we can prove that they’re both related,” Mr. Worley said.
A sample of a drug found in the Penn North neighborhood, possibly linked to the July 10 overdoses, tested positive for the opioid fentanyl and a type of benzodiazepine known as N-methylclonazepam.
“N-methylclonazepam’s highly sedative effects are consistent with the experiences of those who experienced an overdose in Penn North on July 10. Many people remained unconscious after receiving naloxone, likely as a result of the presence of N-methylclonazepam,” National Institute of Standards and Technology research chemist Edward Sisco told The Baltimore Banner.
