Maine Overdose Deaths: Fentanyl Drives Another Increase
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Maine's attorney general says the number of drug-induced deaths in the state rose again, but the rate of increase slowed from the previous year.
Attorney General Janet Mills says there were 418 drug-induced deaths in Maine last year, up 11 percent from the previous year's record. The number of drug deaths rose by 40 percent from 2015 to 2016.
Mills says this year's increase in deaths was driven by an increase of 27 percent in deaths due to illegal fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. She says fentanyl "has invaded our state." The number of heroin deaths in the state went down.
Mills says 2017 also included an increase in deaths from cocaine and methamphetamine. She says about 85 percent of the deaths were caused by at least one opioid, whether pharmaceutical or illegal.