Law enforcement agencies, policymakers and treatment providers are focusing their efforts on attacking the growing opioid epidemic that is claiming many lives in Maine. WMTW News 8'S Jim Keithley reports.

Advertisement Drug overdose deaths up 31% in Maine AG's office says 272 people died of overdoses in 2015 Share Shares Copy Link Copy

There were 272 fatal drug overdoses in Maine in 2015, a 31 percent increase over 2014 when there were 208 overdose deaths, according to the Maine Attorney General's Office. The AG's office said an analysis of drug overdose deaths exceeded initial estimates largely due to an increase in deaths caused by heroin and Fentanyl in the second half of the year.In 2015, 157 deaths were caused by heroin and/or non-pharmaceutical Fentanyl. Another 111 were caused by pharmaceutical opioids.Two-thirds of the fatal overdoses were suffered by men. The youngest was 18 and the oldest was 89, while the average age was 42.“These figures are shocking,” Attorney General Janet T. Mills said. “Maine averaged more than five drug deaths per week. That is five families every week losing a loved one to drugs. These are sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, our neighbors, our friends."I applaud the families who have come forward to share their stories about the struggles they have endured in watching a loved one succumb to addiction and the pain it has caused. Behind every one of these deaths is a story that must be told as a warning to anyone who thinks opiates are a harmless party drug with no consequences. No one is immune from addiction. No one is immune from overdose.No one is immune from death. We must use every effort to intervene in these people’s lives before it is too late.”The city of Portland recorded 46 deaths, followed by Lewiston with 15 deaths and Bangor with 13. While all counties recorded at least one overdose death, approximately 78 percent of the overdose deaths were reported in Maine’s five most populous counties, which account for 65 percent of Maine’s population. Cumberland County recorded 86 total overdoses, or 32 percent of the statewide total.Maine's EMS director said in 2015 1,565 doses of Narcan were administered to a total of 1,133 patients.Get the WMTW App