Penn-North Isn't a Baltimore Problem—It's Maryland's Drug Source

(BALTIMORE – November 9, 2025) – When you hear “Penn-North,” what comes to mind? Be honest. There’s a pause. A look. That intersection at North Avenue—just south of Mondawmin Station, where the Freddie Gray uprising began—carries a stigma that most of Maryland would rather ignore.

But here’s what the rest of the state doesn’t want to admit: Penn-North is where their kids go to die.

BMORENews spoke with addictions counselor Steve Dixon, who revealed something that should alarm every family from Towson to Annapolis, from Montgomery County to the Eastern Shore. The drug unleashing havoc at Penn-North isn’t just fentanyl anymore. It’s nitazenes—synthetic opioids up to 500 times more potent than heroin, up to 50 times stronger than fentanyl.

And they require multiple doses of Narcan to reverse an overdose. Most people carrying Narcan don’t know this. Most families aren’t prepared.

Why This Matters Beyond Baltimore

Penn-North is a major transportation hub. Addicts don’t just come from West Baltimore. They come from all over Maryland. They come from your county. Your neighborhood. Your child’s high school.

Pennsylvania Avenue has long been a drug source, but the monster has evolved. Nitazenes are being mixed into everything—heroin, fentanyl, counterfeit pills—often without the user’s knowledge. Since 2019, nearly 7,000 cases have been reported to the DEA. Pennsylvania confirmed 29 nitazene deaths last year alone. Tennessee went from zero deaths in 2019 to 42 in 2021.

How many has Maryland confirmed? Do we even know?

Most toxicology labs aren’t routinely testing for nitazenes. The official numbers likely undercount the crisis by a staggering margin.

The Drug You’re Not Testing For

Fentanyl test strips are everywhere now. That’s progress. But test strips don’t detect nitazenes. And if your toxicology lab isn’t looking for them, they’re invisible.

Pennsylvania surveyed its labs last year and found that 80% now test for nitazenes as part of their standard overdose panels. What about Maryland?

We don’t know. Because most of the state isn’t asking. When BMORENews reached out to Steve Dixon, he was one of the few voices willing to talk about what he’s seeing on the ground at Penn-North—the overdoses that don’t respond to standard Narcan doses, the confusion among first responders, the families who had no idea their loved one was exposed to something this potent.

The Naloxone Reality

Naloxone still works on nitazene overdoses. That’s the good news. But it often requires multiple doses and ongoing monitoring. Clinical evidence shows a median dose of 1.20 mg can reverse nitazene poisoning—but 45% of cases require repeat dosing.

How many people carrying Narcan know this? How many EMTs have been trained on nitazene protocols? How many families have enough doses on hand?

The Pattern Is Clear

From fentanyl to nitazenes, the cycle continues. China banned fentanyl production in 2019. By fall of that year, nitazenes appeared in the U.S. drug supply—made from completely different precursors, legal to export, and harder to detect.

The “iron law of prohibition”: the harder the enforcement, the harder the drug.

We’ve seen this movie before. And while policymakers debate scheduling and sentencing, people are dying at Penn-North from a drug most toxicology labs aren’t even looking for.

The Question No One’s Asking

Why is the rest of Maryland letting Baltimore deal with THEIR problem alone?

At a time when dollars are scarce, fighting illegal drugs gets delayed. Treatment options exist—that’s a plus. But the source is the problem. And Penn-North is a source.

The time has come to face the monster.

This Story Took 20 Hours of Reporting

Street-level intelligence from counselors like Steve Dixon fills the gap that official data misses. When labs aren’t testing and coroners aren’t tracking, boots-on-the-ground reporting becomes the early warning system.

But without your support, who covers this story next month?

The BMORENews benefit is three weeks away. This story—and the 41st District coverage next week, and the Baltimore County Executive race the week after—these all depend on whether we can keep reporters in the field.

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