Jayna Smith

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Last year in Maine, 380 lives were lost due to drugs, a 7 percent increase over 354 in 2018.  Of those 380, 84 percent were caused by opioids, nearly always in combination with other drugs or alcohol, according to the Office of the Maine Attorney General.  Although the numbers for each of the two years were a decrease from the 418 in 2017, the opioid crisis continues to be a public health epidemic.