According to the most recent state data, there were nearly 10,000 drug overdoses in Maine during 2023, though the number of fatal overdoses fell by 16 percent compared to 2022.
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The December Monthly Overdose Report from the Maine Drug Data Hub reported that there were a total of 607 fatal drug overdoses in the state in 2023, down from 723 in 2022.
The Maine Drug Data Hub is a collaboration between several state departments, including the Maine Attorney General’s Office, the governor’s office, and the University of Maine.
The combined total of fatal and nonfatal overdoses in 2023 was 9,654, down from 10,483 in 2022.
April 2023 saw the highest number of confirmed fatal overdoses, with 63 total fatal overdoses.
Their December report also shows 7.3 percent decrease in the total number of nonfatal overdoses from 2022 (9,760) to 2023 (9,047).
Out of all Maine counties, Cumberland County had the highest number of nonfatal overdoses with EMS response in 2023 at 2,194, accounting for 23 percent of the total nonfatal overdoses statewide throughout the year.
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Fentanyl or fentanyl analogs were reported as causing death in 78 percent of the fatal overdoses in 2023.
In her January State of the State Address, Maine Gov. Janet Mills announced that her administration will be directing $750,000 in state funding to hiring an additional nine substance use recovery coaches statewide, as well as using $1.25 million in federal funds to increase naloxone distribution.
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“In all, we are on track to see a more than 16 percent reduction in fatal overdose deaths for 2023, the first time in five years we’ve recorded an annual decrease,” Gov. Mills wrote in her Jan. 30 address. “I believe the investments we’ve made in prevention, treatment, and recovery services have contributed to that decrease.”
“This welcome news should bring us all a sense of relief, but our cautious optimism shouldn’t become complacency,” Mills wrote. “Every life lost to a fatal overdose is one too many. The people we lost in 2023 were fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, classmates and co-workers, who did not live to realize their full potential.”
