According to the report, the majority of men who are dying of opioid overdoses are Black men between the ages of 54 and 73.
The majority of men across America who are dying of opioid overdoses due to fentanyl are Black men between the ages of 54 and 73, a forgotten generation in Baltimore and elsewhere in the country, according to joint reporting from The New York Times and The Baltimore Banner and other newsrooms.
According to the most recent data, Baltimore is at the center of the most severe drug overdose crisis among major U.S. cities.
From 2018 to 2022, the city’s overdose death rate was nearly double that of the next highest major city.
Compounding this crisis is the disproportionate impact on older Black men, who make up a significant portion of those dying from drug overdoses.
Despite this, one of the most prominent deaths attributed to a fentanyl overdose in Baltimore was that of 26-year-old Baltimore Ravens linebacker Jaylon Ferguson at an acquaintance’s home in 2022.
According to Tracie M. Gardner, executive director of the National Black Harm Reduction Network, as well as a former New York State health official, the deaths of older Black men are ironic because that particular demographic survived so many other epidemics.