Annapolis, April 4 -- Marylanders gathered at Lawyer's Mall in Annapolis for the state's first Substance Use Awareness Advocacy Day rally, hosted by Lieutenant Governor Aruna K. Miller and Special Secretary of Overdose Response Emily Keller.

Rally attendees represented a broad and diverse coalition-including community leaders from areas most impacted by the crisis, advocates, representatives from community-based organizations, elected officials, state and local agency leaders, and Marylanders with lived experience of substance use and overdose.

Lieutenant Governor Miller reminded Marylanders that while grief is real, it does not get the final word-action, recovery, and community do. She was joined by Special Secretary Keller, Comptrolle...