New Poll Shows Large Number of Mainers Affected by Opiate Epidemic

A recent poll in Maine shows that six out of ten residents were “personally affected” by the opiate crisis occurring in the US.

The poll was taken by the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram in June and received results from 609 registered voters, with 60 percent of the population stating “they knew someone who has either abused opiate painkillers or used heroin in the past five years” (Ackerman, 2016).

Maine had 272 drug overdose deaths in 2015, and 107 of those were heroin-related. According to drug news website The Fix, “all but four of last year’s overdose deaths were attributed to either heroin, fentanyl or pharmaceutical opiates” (Ackerman, 2016).

“We should be approaching the drug crisis as a public health crisis. There is no way we have the resources to handle the problem right now,” said Lindsey Smith, a research associate at the University of Southern Maine Muskie School of Public Service.

References

Ackerman, M. (2016). 60 percent of Maine residents directly affected by opiate crisis, says poll. Retrieved from https://www.thefix.com/60-maine-residents-directly-affected-opiate-crisis-says-poll

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