LEWISTON — Community groups, police, health care providers and others will hold a community forum Thursday to talk about opioid use and addiction. The forum is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lewiston Middle School, and will feature two panels, a Q&A session, community resource information and on-site counselors for anyone who is […]
opioids
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, sj-web
Police find large drug supply in Turner after responding to attempted overdose
TURNER — Maine State Police say an attempted overdose led them to a large stash of drugs, including LSD and hashish, at a home on Fern Street on Thursday. Troopers say they responded to a report of a man attempting to overdose on drugs. The man was taken into protective custody and while doing so, […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine excludes veterinarians from opioid prescribing law
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine is loosening restrictions on veterinarians who prescribe opioids for animals. A new law removes a requirement that all vets check the prescription history of the individual who brought in the animal. It also lifts a requirement to check Maine’s prescription monitoring system when vets provide less than a two-day supply of […]
Posted inFranklin, sj-web
Fatal overdose leads to arrest of Wilton man
WILTON — The weekend overdose death of a Wyman Township man led to the arrest of a Temple Road man Wednesday. Dennis Ayala, 55, was arrested by the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office and Wilton Police Department on a charge of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs. “We are not implicating Ayala in the death of the […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Mark LaFlamme
Street Talk: Sympathy for the dope sick
The aching is intense and it is everywhere. It’s there in your legs, humming like a million angry volts. It’s in your back, too, a constant band of pain you can’t put out of your mind for even a few seconds. It’s hard to say which is worse, the roaring ache in your bones or […]
Posted inNation / World
A spike in fatal ODs is making more organs available for transplants
It doesn’t take an in-depth reading of the letters that recipients of organ transplants write to the families of deceased donors to realize the deep connection between an ailing person’s salvation and another family’s grief. But a new study has added a new wrinkle to this already emotional issue of life and death: A rise […]
Posted inMaine
Nine overdoses are reported in 4 counties in a single night; police warn of bad heroin
Maine law enforcement officials are warning of bad batches of heroin after nine overdoses in four counties were reported Friday night. Police are assuming the heroin was laced with fentanyl, which is far more powerful than heroin, The Associated Press reported. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Department posted a warning on its Facebook page urging people […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Calling opioids a ‘public nuisance,’ Androscoggin County joins nationwide lawsuit
After last month joining a growing list of Maine municipalities and counties that are part of a nationwide lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, Androscoggin County commissioners passed an order claiming the opioid epidemic is a public nuisance. The order, requested by the attorneys representing communities throughout the country, puts the county on record saying that the […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Bruce Poliquin presses for more federal aid for Maine's opioids crisis
Despite facing one of the most serious opioid problems in the nation, Maine collected only 40 cents of every $100 allocated by the federal government under a $1 billion federal program approved in 2016 to assist states trying to deal with the crisis. For some, including U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Maine, that doesn’t seem […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
As overdose deaths soar, LePage says he’s adding treatment beds at Windham prison
Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Friday that he’s adding a “significant” number of substance abuse treatment beds at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham – a statement that baffled and upset some Democratic lawmakers. LePage, a Republican, also promised to continue to address the opioid crisis “on all fronts,” after the Maine Attorney General’s Office […]