The State of Maine is dedicated to preventing the early use of addictive substances by children, youth, and young adults. Further, actions have been taken to reduce the number of prescribed and illicitly obtained opioids, stimulants, and other potentially harmful drugs.
Law enforcement prevents drug misuse and overdose by making illegal drugs less available.
The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency (MDEA) addresses the drug epidemic in the state by making deadly illegal drugs, such as fentanyl and fentanyl analogs less available. They also focus their investigative efforts on removing drug traffickers and dealers from our communities.
This metric tracks the grams of drugs seized by MDEA, the pharmaceutical dosage units of drugs seized by MDEA, and the drug related arrests made by MDEA by substance. This metric is an indicator of the illicit substances found in Maine by law enforcement officers as well as the quantity of illicit substances and traffickers of illicit substances removed from Maine’s drug trade by MDEA. MDEA data is reported annually. For full reports visit the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Website’s News and Events Page.
Source: Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Annual Report 2018.
Source: Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Annual Report 2018.
DEA National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses misuse of controlled prescription drugs
The Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 9.9 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study highlighted that the majority of misused prescription drugs were obtained from family members or friends, often from a home medicine cabinet.
This metric tracks the pounds of prescription drugs taken into custody by the DEA during Take Back Day. The data is compiled by the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency. It is reported annually. For national data regarding the DEA’s Prescription Drug Take Back Days visit DEA Diversion’s website.
Drugs Collected during the Prescription Drug Take Back Day in New England, October 2020. Hover over each state to view pounds of prescriptions collected.
Maine is dedicated to reducing the oversupply of prescription opioids by improving the safety of opioid prescribing.
To help reduce opioid-addiction and opioid overdose in the state of Maine, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program receives data regarding controlled substances from prescription dispensers that can be accessed by prescribing providers. Since 2015, the number of morphine milligram equivalents prescribed in Maine has decreased as has the number of patients prescribed opioids and the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed to patients.
This metric tracks the morphine milligram equivalents prescribed by providers, the number of patients receiving opioid prescriptions from their providers, and the number of opioid prescriptions dispensed in the State of Maine. The data is provided by the Office of Behavioral Health. The data is reported quarterly. For interactive data regarding drug overdoses in Maine visit the Maine CDC Drug Overdose Morbidity and Mortality dashboard.
Source: Maine Office of Behavioral Health, Maine Prescription Monitoring Program 2020 Annual Report.
Benzodiazepines are emerging as a cause of overdose death alone or in combination with other drugs and alcohol.
Long-term use of benzodiazepines can cause physical dependence, addiction, and overdose death. Benzodiazepines used alongside pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical opioids increases the risk of respiratory suppression as well as nonfatal and fatal overdoses.
This metric tracks the number of patients receiving benzodiazepines from their providers, and the number of benzodiazepine prescriptions dispensed in the State of Maine. The data is provided by the Office of Behavioral Health. The data is reported quarterly. For interactive data regarding drug overdoses in Maine visit the Maine CDC Drug Overdose Morbidity and Mortality dashboard.
Source: Maine Office of Behavioral Health, Maine Prescription Monitoring Program 2020 Annual Report.
