Please go to the Portland Press Herald to read the full article.  Naloxone doses are now widely available in Maine pharmacies, although a new federal database shows significant variations in sales by county. By: Joe Lawlor Staff Writer ~~Excerpt In Maine and across the United States, prescriptions for a life-saving opioid antidote have escalated since 2016, according to federal and state statistics. Meanwhile, after climbing for years, drug overdose deaths started declining for the first ... Read More ›

Please go to WGME-TV to read the full article. by Taylor Cairns ~~Excerpt PORTLAND (WGME) -- Maine's public health crisis of opioid use is well documented. In 2017, Maine saw more than 400 people die from drug-induced deaths. Some recovery service experts in Portland say they're hoping to change the way people see addiction by changing how people talk about it. "Language is really powerful," Kelli Fox said, an assistant clinical professor at the University of New England. "How we ... Read More ›

Please go to Central Maine Online to read the full article.  The trend mirrors a statewide decrease in overdose deaths, with improved access to Suboxone and naloxone. By: Joe Lawlor ~~Excerpt Admissions to emergency departments at Maine hospitals for drug overdoses have gradually declined since 2017, according to statistics released recently by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Suspected drug overdose admissions in the first six months of 2019 declined 11 percent ... Read More ›

Please go to the Bangor Daily News to read the full editorial.  By: The Editorial Board ~~Excerpt  Research has long shown that medication-assisted treatment can be the most effective means to deal with substance abuse disorder. Despite this, longstanding policies prohibited the use of this treatment in many of Maine’s correctional facilities, where a significant percentage of inmates are coping with addiction. This has made recovery more difficult, and even dangerous, for thousands ... Read More ›

Please go to The Ellsworth American to read the full article.  By: Jennifer Osborn ~~Excerpt  ELLSWORTH — The mother of a homeless Ellsworth man is frustrated by the revolving door of Maine’s judicial system for people like her son who have substance abuse and mental health struggles. “He needs an involuntary commitment,” Leanne Lilly of North Conway, N.H., said of her son, Nicholas O. Stanley, 33. Lilly said her son is an alcoholic and has a traumatic brain injury he sustained in ... Read More ›

Please go to Central Maine Online to read the full article.  Poor broadband and out-of-step Medicare policies relegate Maine's use of telehealth to small niches when it should be in the mainstream. By: J. Craig Anderson, Portland Press Herald ~~Excerpt Information technology should be revolutionizing the way patients in Maine interact with their health care providers, but poor broadband infrastructure and outdated federal policies are slowing progress to a crawl. Many people believe ... Read More ›

Please go to the Bangor Daily News to read the full article.  By Callie Ferguson, BDN Staff ~~Excerpt The state is working with the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office to develop a blueprint for establishing medication-assisted opioid treatment programs inside Maine county jails. Officials said they are collaborating on a set of guidelines that they plan to share in the fall with sheriffs, who independently oversee the state’s local lockups. The move signals the first unified ... Read More ›

Please go to Maine Public to read the full article.  By: Irwin Gratz ~~Excerpt The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration recently released data tracking opioid pill distribution from 2006 to 2012. It shows more opioid pills were handed out in Penobscot County than in any other county in New England. But by 2016, Maine had already moved to address issues of overprescribing. The state passed a law that set education and training standards for opioid prescribers. Gordon Smith helped ... Read More ›

Please go to PBS Newshour to read the full article.  By: Jenae Addison ~~Excerpt The opioid epidemic in the United States has largely centered on white Americans, who account for roughly 80 percent of opioid overdose victims. But the national attention on white victims has pushed minorities to the sidelines, even as the number of opioid-related deaths among non-whites is on the rise. Non-whites make up 20 percent of deaths involving prescription and non-prescription opioids in the ... Read More ›