Data Sheet: Fatal and nonfatal overdoses 2017-2021

At the root of an epidemic in Maine: a prescription pad

Twenty years after Purdue Pharma introduced its pain medication, OxyContin, Maine lawmakers passed a bill that significantly stemmed the flow of pain pills into the state. A Sun Journal investigation found the new restrictions may have been too little, too late: A generation of Mainers were already grappling with substance use disorder and a growing illicit drug trade was ready to meet the demand.

Methodology: Where the drug data came from

States look for solutions as U.S. fentanyl deaths keep rising

With fentanyl driving fatal overdoses to record levels in the U.S., state governments are scrambling for solutions.

Legacy of Pain: How Maine’s opioid crisis devastated families and created a generation of lost children

The rising human cost of the opioid crisis has created a legacy of pain for more than a generation of Maine people.

Fentanyl: Secret ingredient in non-opioid drugs a driving factor in Oxford County’s overdose crisis

Overdose deaths in Oxford county almost doubled last year from 2020.

Lewiston forms panel focused on substance abuse

Officials plan to investigate what's needed to create a 'recovery-ready community' that can help addicts recover

Mainers gather for Black Balloon Day, marking 636 overdose deaths in 2021

Members of the Maine recovery community advocate for an amendment to the state Good Samaritan Law that would protect anyone at the scene of an overdose from punishment for nonviolent crimes.

Portrayed as villain in TV series about opioid crisis, ex-U.S. attorney for Maine says he didn’t sell out

Jay McCloskey, who has a brief but unflattering portrayal in the new miniseries 'Dopesick,' defends his work for the OxyContin producer Purdue Pharma in the early 2000s.

Maine to receive $130 million over 18 years in national opioid lawsuit settlement

The money will be used to fight the ongoing epidemic that resulted in a record number of overdose deaths last year.