Because officials used older data, the state missed a key cutoff, and funding dropped precipitously.
opioid epidemic
Maine increases payments to providers treating opioid use disorder
Treatment experts applaud the move, but say it took the LePage administration too long to make significant investments in expanding treatment, given the severity of the opioid epidemic.
Bloomberg Philanthropies will give $50 million to fight opioid epidemic
Bloomberg Philanthropies says over the next three years it’ll help up to 10 states address the causes of opioid addiction and strengthen prevention and treatment programs.
Suicide, overdose rates driving U.S life expectancy down
Overall, there were more than 2.8 million U.S. deaths in 2017, or nearly 70,000 more than the previous year, according to the CDC.
Lewiston police tell mobile needle exchange program to halt distribution
The program, which its founder calls the Church of Safe Injection, is violating a state law that prohibits people from distributing hypodermic needles, police say.
Activists hang banners calling for safe injection site in Maine’s largest city
Portland OPS is calling on city officials to open a facility where people can inject drugs under medical supervision, which they say reduces overdose deaths.
In this church, salvation comes with a clean needle or heroin overdose antidote
Operating in a legal gray area, the mobile needle exchange program brings needed supplies and a message of hope to people struggling with substance use.
Maine Voices: Church of Safe Injection treats drug users as Jesus would have done
He would have offered them sterile syringes, naloxone and nonjudgmental support.
York County Sheriff’s Office partners with recovery group on opioid treatment for inmates
The federally funded pilot program, which will treat up to 10 people, is part of a broader effort to pair prisoners with medication assisted treatment, such as Suboxone.
Maine’s candidates for governor weigh in on health care policy
How each would tackle Medicaid expansion, the opioid crisis and protecting Maine’s most vulnerable exposes differences.