With opioid settlement dollars continuing to flow, Baltimore City is laying out a strategic plan to guide its local response. The City’s approach reflects a broader effort across Maryland to invest these resources in ways that meet local needs and priorities.
Baltimore City has taken a significant step forward in addressing the opioid crisis, releasing its Preliminary Overdose Response Strategic Plan for 2025–2027. This plan outlines how the City will use opioid restitution funds secured from settlements with pharmaceutical companies.
From the press release:
We made the decision to directly take on Big Pharma for their role in this crisis, and we won millions in settlements and awards. This Strategic Plan lays out how we’ll invest that money back into communities, with the goal of reducing fatal overdoses at least 40% by 2040, said Mayor Brandon M. Scott.
Mayor Scott announced the plan alongside updates on the implementation of his August 2024 Executive Order, which established the framework for administering these funds. The strategy was developed by the newly created Mayor’s Office of Overdose Response and is built around five key priorities, supported by 13 strategies and corresponding implementation activities. The plan draws heavily from Baltimore’s newly released Overdose Response Needs Assessment, which identifies core challenges across prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and the social determinants of health.
To shape the final version of the plan, the City is encouraging residents to provide feedback online and at listening sessions scheduled throughout July. Submit comments by August 29, 2025.
This initiative reflects a growing effort among jurisdictions to center community engagement and equity in the use of opioid settlement funds.
