The Baltimore Banner: Baltimore neighborhoods worry about the influx of low-quality drug treatment

https://www.thebanner.com/community/local-news/baltimore-drug-treatment-programs-centers-neighborhood-TMNEB2M4J5G4DGU2XO5CIBQZO4/

Alissa Zhu and Lee O. Sanderlin

State health officials struggled to keep problematic providers in check in recent years

Crystal Parker first learned about the plan to open a new drug addiction treatment program in her West Baltimore neighborhood when she saw a zoning notice posted on the front of a former carryout restaurant.

For years, she and her neighbors have worked toward revitalizing this long-neglected stretch of West North Avenue, where drugs are openly sold and used, into something more vibrant. What they didn’t need, Parker said, was one more treatment program in an area that already had at least six in close proximity.

But despite a petition signed by more than 300 people opposing the new program, the zoning board voted last year to allow the changes required for it to open.

“It feels like the neighborhood has no say in this,” Parker said.