Maine recorded its worst year for drug overdoses in 2020, with 502 deaths, and preliminary figures for January 2021 indicate that the numbers are still increasing.
The data released on Thursday by the Maine Attorney General’s Office contributes to a continuing and gloomy trend that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new information on overdose deaths last year came when the attorney general’s office started releasing overdose statistics every month, rather than quarterly, a welcome move by people working in the recovery community who say the Increased reporting will help save lives.
The 502 fatal overdoses in 2020 surpass the previous high of 417 deaths in 2017, which at the time was considered the height of the opioid crisis. That number dropped to 354 in 2018, before rising again a year later.
Maine had an average of 42 drug overdose deaths per month in 2020, and initial reports have the state recording 58 confirmed or suspected drug overdose deaths in January, the worst month for fatal overdoses in a year and well above January. 2020.
“The January figures are a stark and tragic reminder of how pervasive and deadly the opioid epidemic is,” said Attorney General Aaron Frey in a written statement on Thursday. “We must work urgently to connect Maine residents who are battling substance use disorder with the resources they need to protect them and help them move forward in recovery, and we must come together as a community to put the pandemic away. COVID-19 under control so that barriers to treatment and support are removed. “
Experts said the coronavirus pandemic probably worsened the opioid crisis. A January report from the AG office notes that the increase in Maine reflects national trends and is “probably due, at least in part, to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related mitigation measures: isolation, prevention or difficult access to medical services, and changes in the supply of illicit drugs ”.
In December, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 81,000 drug overdose deaths from June 2019 to May 2020, the highest number ever recorded in the country over a 12-month period.
The deaths in Maine during January 2021 are still preliminary, with 29 confirmed drug overdose deaths and 29 suspicions. The previous hike from last year was 53 in June. There were 43 deaths in January 2020.
Gordon Smith, Maine’s director of opioid response, said the preliminary and final reports on the number of monthly deaths are unlikely to change much, with perhaps one or two cases potentially being reclassified as not caused by an overdose.
A detailed analysis of the 502 deaths during 2020 was not released, while the state released some details in its first monthly report on deaths in January.
The most frequent cause of deaths in January is non-pharmaceutical fentanyl, according to the report compiled by Dr. Marcella Sorg, from the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine. Fifty-two percent of January deaths occurred in the 40-59 age group, and 62 percent of deaths occurred among men.
Among the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who died in January was Crystal Waugh, a former program director for Sanford’s 39-year-old Journey House Recovery. She died of an apparent overdose on January 30.
Crystal Rose Waugh, in family photo
Waugh’s mother, Joanne Goodreau of Sanford, expressed shock on Thursday after learning that there were 58 fatal drug overdoses in Maine during January.
“Oh, my God … I know two of them,” said Goodreau. “It’s sad. I feel sad for the people who lost their lives due to addiction and sadness for the families who have to live.”
Garrett Dee
Another life lost was Garrett Dee, a 28-year-old commercial fisherman from Jay who died of an apparent overdose on January 18 – just days after moving to a sober home in Portland.
Dee’s sister, Rilynn Snow of Westbrook, said on Thursday that the rise in overdose deaths did not surprise her.
“It’s crazy for me that so many people … 58 people who didn’t have a solution,” said Snow. “Fifty-eight people who were so lost and broken that they thought there was no other way to get relief than to numb themselves. It is sad for me to think, because I know that there is another way to live. It’s difficult at first and it doesn’t seem worth it, but it does. “
Courtney Allen, policy director for the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project, sees data on overdoses in Maine daily through her work, but said the overall figures are likely to come as a surprise to residents of Mains who do not understand the scope of the problem. She hopes that the most timely data released by the state will help people understand that this is a public health crisis that needs a similar response to the effort to contain COVID-19.
“The recovery community lost a lot of people last year. We see that this is a sign from the Mills administration that we will double in 2021 and we will not lose so many people again, ”said Allen. “It is important for the recovery community to see that the Mills administration is taking overdose deaths as seriously as COVID-19 deaths.”
The more detailed monthly reports that will be released going forward meet a goal in the state’s Strategic Opioid Response Plan, which requires more timely and transparent data to identify trends and allocate resources more quickly in response to drug overdoses, said Governor Janet Mills. Elected officials and public health advocates say that disclosing information on a monthly, rather than quarterly basis, will allow for a better response to overdoses and provide more life-saving opportunities.
Mills, as part of his budget proposal, included $ 2 million to promote the OPTIONS Initiative, which sends mobile response teams across Maine counties to communities with high drug overdose rates. A public campaign and a new website launched in January to raise awareness of the OPTIONS program, providing information on the dangers of exclusive substance use, signs of suspected overdose and a new online tool to help match individuals with treatment options in their communities.
Mills said the timing of the new reports was important “given the worrying increase in overdose deaths during the pandemic.”
“This new and more comprehensive data will be a powerful tool that we and others can use to help the people of Maine,” she said in a statement. “With these deeper insights, state and Maine substance use counselors, hospitals, first responders and law enforcement officers can respond better and more skillfully to the scourge of opioid addiction in our communities.”
More timely disclosure of data will also help to inform the public and enable agencies that help people with substance use disorders to respond more quickly to trends, said Smith.
“By increasing our understanding of what is happening with overdoses in Maine and by sharing this data widely with frontline respondents and the public, we can help to keep individuals fighting substance abuse alive,” said Smith. “Maine’s opioid crisis is changing frequently and we will now have access to more complete and timely data to change our response to address these changes.”
Monthly overdose data will provide the Augusta Police Department OPTIONS with important demographic information that can be used to provide life-saving interventions for residents struggling with substance abuse disorder, said Chief Jared Mills.
“Maine’s recovery community is robust, but our hearts break with every overdose death that could have been prevented,” said Ronald Springel, program manager for the Maine Association of Recovery Residences, in a statement. “Sharing this important data monthly from non-fatal and fatal overdoses gives us a chance to help those who survived, but are at high risk for a subsequent overdose.”
More information about support and resources for substance use disorders is available by calling 211, email [email protected], visiting the Maine 211 website, visiting the state’s Know Your Options resource page or visiting the DHHS Office of Behavioral Health resource page.
Editor Melanie Creamer contributed to this story.
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