If you loved one of the 1,549 people who died in Maryland of an overdose in the past twelve months -- if you’re a brother, a parent, a daughter, a friend -- it may be small comfort that that number is 30 percent lower than the year before … and has been trending downward since 2021. It’s still too high.

Emily Keller, Maryland’s ‘Special Secretary of Overdose Response, is charged with leading Maryland’s fight against overdose deaths. We ask her about the state’s anti-overdose strategy and about getting resources into the hands of local groups engaged in the fight.