Overdose deaths are down, but Gov. Mills says more to be done to address opioid epidemic

Gov. Janet Mills gives her address at her administration's sixth annual opioid response summit. (Screenshot)

At the sixth annual opioid response summit, Gov. Janet Mills celebrated the decrease in fatal overdoses in Maine over the past year and a half, but outlined the work still to be done as officials continue to remove deadly substances from the street and new, more powerful drugs become more widespread.

“Today may we all redouble our efforts to save every life, to lend our strength to people as they start, stumble, or resume their recovery, and to bring communities across Maine together to build a brighter future for us all,” Mills said.

Last year, Maine saw a 16% decrease in fatal overdoses, and so far, is on track to see another 15% decline in the first seven months of this year. However, more than 600 people died from an overdose in 2023 and just two years ago the state saw record high opioid-related deaths in 2022 with more than 700.

During the address, Mills outlined some of the steps her administration has taken to respond to the opioid epidemic. These include more widespread availability of overdose reversal drugs, expanding medication-assisted treatment, and recruiting and training more recovery coaches.

In particular, she highlighted a partnership with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention that has implemented substance use prevention programs in almost 80 middle schools across the state.

But, Mills said, “addiction is a disease of the brain, not simply a choice.” And lowering the number of Mainers who are being prescribed these drugs, could help fewer people struggle with addiction in the first place, Mills said. Since 2018, the number of patients receiving high doses of opioids has decreased by more than half from 4,000 to just under 1,900 last year.

“That’s welcome news, but we aren’t complacent,” Mills said.

1 in 10 Mainers still struggle

Though Mills said there has been progress in reducing overdose deaths and removing the stigma around getting help, she said one in 10 Mainers age 12 or older struggled with substance use in the past year.

In the first half of this year, the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency recovered 19 pounds of suspected fentanyl, Mills said. That amount has the potential to kill over 4 million people, as two milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly, depending on a person’s size and past usage, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration .

So far this year, 17% of fentanyl overdose deaths in Maine have included a substance called xylazine , a tranquilizer with no known reversal medication , Mills said, noting that’s “quite an increase from last year.” To combat this increase, Mills said the state has spent $1 million in federal funds to educate people on the dangers of xylazine and distribute 83,000 test strips to help identify when the substance is present.

Naloxone in Maine

Though reversal medications don’t work on xylazine, they have become more prevalent in Maine, especially after new laws such as one that went into effect earlier this year requiring on-duty law enforcement to carry naloxone.

Mills said the state spent $1.25 million in federal funds for naloxone this year, adding that 10,200 potentially fatal overdoses have been reversed since she took office in 2019. She also mentioned the $4 million included in the supplemental budget to expand medication-assisted treatment in county jails.

Though Mills, a former prosecutor, said she doesn’t believe “we can arrest our way out of the epidemic,” she shared the story of a Mainer who said the criminal justice system was the first step in their recovery.

“Recovery is possible, new life is possible,” Mills said of the effect of reversal medications.

Access to recovery beds

Before Mills spoke, Danielle Forino, a St. John Valley resident, shared how a lack of access to local recovery resources cost her son his life.

Forino said her 22-year-old son died from an accidental overdose less than a year ago while seeking recovery more than 1,000 miles away in Virginia because they “didn’t have an option in Maine that didn’t include a three-week wait.”

Forino said her son didn’t want to die, noting during their last phone call he told her he’d talk with her the next day.

During her address, Mills said there is a “perception” in the state that there are limited beds available for people seeking treatment, highlighting 70 new beds that recently opened in rural and urban communities. But as Forino and others have shown, the state still struggles with access.

Before the number of beds nearly doubled in May at Milestone Recovery in Portland, executive director Thomas Doherty said nurses and counselors turn away roughly 70% of people every day who are seeking and qualified for detox services because of a lack of space.

Mills said she wants to make sure that everybody in Maine who wants help can receive it and said that new treatment beds are becoming more available.

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