Baltimore mass overdose survivor says “chill came though body” after bad batch of drugs

By Mike Hellgren

Click here for updates on this story

    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — Almost 5,000 people have died from drug overdoses in Baltimore in the past five years alone.

Despite a drop in deaths last year, recent mass overdoses in Penn North show there is still a serious problem, and the city council tried to get to a deeper understanding at an oversight hearing Tuesday. Surviving an overdose

Joseph Calloway Jr. told WJZ Investigates he was one of at least 27 people who overdosed at Penn North on July 10.

“When I took that hit, it was like a chill came through my body,” Calloway said. “My cousin was like, ‘Are you alright?’ I said, ‘I’m cool,’ and then in about 15 or 20 minutes, I was gone. I wasn’t good to anybody. If you’re ready to die, then keep doing what you’re doing.”

Calloway was not ready to die.

The overdose scared Calloway so much, he is now in treatment and feels lucky to be alive. He called the overdose, “My start date to being drug free.”

Calloway said he has had “quite a few wake-up calls” and admitted it is hard to know what is in the illicit drugs being sold in Penn North.

“They don’t have any heroin on the streets of Baltimore or any streets for that matter,” Calloway said. “It’s just a bunch of crushed-up pills.”

Baltimore City has not said what was in the bad batch of drugs at Penn North, but a federal laboratory identified fentanyl and sedatives.

Calloway said this experience was far different than any other for him.

“I never had a chill go through my body,” Calloway said.

Oversight answers

At an oversight hearing Tuesday, Baltimore City Council members were told Black men are the group most likely to die from drug overdoses in the city.

Public Safety Chairman Mark Conway said he has seen two overdoses in front of his own district office along York Road.

“One in which I specifically had to find my own dosage of naloxone,” Conway said. “Fortunately, that person woke up and was able to get back on his feet before I had to apply it. It just shows the urgency, and the fact that this can really be affecting people anywhere.”

Conway also noted, “This issue cannot be solved in closed-door rooms. It cannot be solved by really smart people working alone. It takes all of us.”

Baltimore by the overdose numbers

In Baltimore City, 777 people died from drug overdoses last year compared to 1,043 in 2023.

First responders in Baltimore have used Narcan, the brand name of the drug that reverses overdoses, 635 times through June of this year. The generic name is naloxone.

Most overdoses happen in the afternoon, with noon having the most overdose calls.

Fentanyl is behind most deadly overdoses, followed by cocaine.

Baltimore’s Health Department outlined the waves of overdose deaths and responses.

Wave 1: 1990s-2010: Rise in prescription opioid deaths Baltimore City Needle Exchange (syringe services program/SSP) (1994), drug take-back programs, opioid prescribing guidelines, Baltimore City Staying Alive program (2004)

Wave 2: 2010-2016: Rise in heroin deaths First responder naloxone access, prescription drug monitoring program (2014), overdose fatality review (2014)

Wave 3: 2013-present: Rise in synthetic opioid deaths Wide naloxone distribution, fentanyl test strips, peer recovery outreach, Baltimore City naloxone standing order (2015)

Wave 4: 2016-present: Rise in synthetic opioid combined with stimulants deaths Mobile treatment, harm reduction vending machine, syringe disposal drop boxes, overdose prevention center advocacy, addition of backpacking model for SSP, expansion of SSPs to CBOs, Kids Off Drugs, data dashboards Penn North reaction Penn North has seen two mass overdoses in the past month, one week apart. The second mass overdose impacted seven people, sending five of them to hospitals.

“I hope that we’re just prepared for the next one, and the next one, and the next one. I hope that everyone is out here—and the organizations still show up,” said David Carter. “We need resources. We need people to get into housing. We need accurate treatment. Baltimore City got $16 million for housing and $16 million for drug treatment. Where is that money at?”

Sam Graves spoke about the open-air drug market at Penn North.

“It’s open to you, where you can just walk over to who got it—you got this and you got that—and there you go,” Graves said.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.