Companies that helped precipitate the crisis will send tens of millions of dollars to Maine. We must use it the right way.
opioid epidemic
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
As opioid settlement funds reach Maine, debate arises over how to use them
A nationwide coalition urges support for community-based organizations while some municipalities already plan to expand existing programs.
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Posted inLocal & State, News
Maine addiction recovery advocates notch legislative wins, eye future battles
Advocates secured additional funding for treatment beds and expanded access to naloxone last session. Another bill to create safe consumption sites failed, but the state will study the idea in the coming year.
Posted inNation & World, News
OxyContin maker’s bankruptcy, which shields Sackler family, can move ahead
Under a bankruptcy agreement, members of the wealthy Sackler family who own Purdue Pharma will be protected from civil lawsuits over the opioid crisis.
Posted inLocal & State, News
Mills administration to distribute test strips to fight latest overdose threat
A sedative named xylazine is being combined with fentanyl, and the combination is driving up the number of fatal overdoses in Maine and the United States.
Posted inNation & World, News
Animal sedative adds new suffering to opioid drug crisis, but is it driving up deaths?
Xylazine can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths is not yet clear.
Posted inLocal & State, Nation & World, News
Maine will receive at least $235 million in settlements from companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis
A Maine Monitor analysis looks at who stands to benefit from this money and why it matters.
Posted inHealth, Local & State, News
Maine House narrowly supports bill that would allow safe drug consumption sites
Thursday’s 77-66 vote followed emotional testimony on both sides. The measure now goes to the Senate.
Posted inLocal & State, News, Politics
Mills announces plan to add 140 treatment beds to combat ongoing opioid crisis
The $6 million investment is the latest effort to reverse an epidemic that claimed a record 716 lives just last year.
Posted inNation & World, News
‘Keep them alive’: More states legalize fentanyl test strips to combat surging opioid deaths
A growing number of states are decriminalizing fentanyl testing strips, seeking to protect people who use drugs from unwitting exposure to the highly potent synthetic opioid ravaging the U.S. with overdose deaths.