'That Fentanyl, That's Death': A Story Of Recovery In Baltimore

Two summers ago, we met a woman who went by the name Teacup.

"I'm an active heroin user," she told us. "Thirty-three years as a matter of fact."

We were in West Baltimore, reporting on a city-wide effort to stop a growing opioid crisis. On a street corner known for its open-air drug market, health workers trained anyone passing by on how to use naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. They were trying to get naloxone kits into as many hands as possible.

Teacup had stopped and to pick up another kit. She was already well-versed in the use of naloxone, having administered it more than a dozen times, she estimated. She called herself a "doctor," but not because of her experience intervening in overdoses. It was because she was the go-to person in the neighborhood if you needed help getting high.