by Ruth Leubecker

Nationally the opioid crisis has achieved new heights, but in Maine the numbers are climbing at an even more devastating rate.

Between 2014 until 2019, drug overdoses claimed 1,630 lives in Maine. In 2015 alone, 272 Mainers died by drug overdose. But by 2020, in that year alone a record 502 deaths by overdose motivated Gov. Janet Mills to include in her budget $2 million to promote OPTIONS (Overdose Prevention Through Intensive Outreach Naloxone & Safety).