By David Collins

May 29, 2025

BALTIMORE — U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Maryland, is making a rare tour through Baltimore on Thursday, with a focus on listening.

Alsobrooks participated in a panel discussion about the impact federal cuts are having on Baltimore’s ability to address the city’s opioid crisis.

Federal cuts are creating widespread fear and uncertainty about the ability to plan and continue offering services that not only directly address the opioid crisis, but also the consequences of it.

“We are looking at a public health crisis that I think was ignored for far too long,” Alsobrooks said. “So, I want to make sure that I lend my voice and my efforts to do everything I can to make sure that we are healing and investing in our loved ones.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration put together a panel of experts to answer Alsobrooks’ questions.

“Give me some sense of how the current climate is impacting you and the work you are doing,” Alsobrooks said.

“What’s playing out on the federal level is having a significant impact,” said Jennifer Martin, deputy health commissioner for the Baltimore City Health Department. “The impacts are direct, but also indirect. There is a lot of uncertainty, and the uncertainty is a huge challenge in thinking about planning.”

Experts shared concerns about the growing number of older Black men becoming substance misusers.

“If this is a population that we are seeing an increase in overdoses, can anyone on the panel kind of help me understand why we are seeing that?” Alsobrooks said.

“We have a population that used regular heroin, and when you introduce fentanyl into everything and people are using this and a lot of times not knowing they had fentanyl in the supply chain, we are seeing higher increases in overdoses,” said Bakari Atiba with the Charm City Care Connection.

A new harm-reduction vending machine is providing free fentanyl test kits in East Baltimore.

The city has also reached nearly $700 million in settlements with drug companies. Last August, the mayor signed an executive order detailing how the city will spend those funds.

“There is no simple solution or cookie-cutter approach that can help us solve this issue,” Scott said. “We work to mitigate harm and assure accountability for those responsible. We have to do everything to deal with the opioid overdose crisis.”