Press Herald cites Sorg’s drug death analysis in article on awareness event
An analysis on Maine drug deaths was cited in a Portland Press Herald article on a candlelight vigil and march held in Portland’s Monument Square to remember those who have died from drug overdoses and to spread the message that addiction can be overcome. The analysis was released by the Maine attorney general’s office and conducted by Marcella Sorg, a research professor of the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine. The study found that the number of Maine residents who died of drug overdoses in 2014 hit a record high, according to the article. The report showed 208 people in Maine died of drug overdoses — an increase of 18 percent over 2013, when 176 peopled died. The drugs ranged from cocaine to heroin and other opioids, and the number of deaths from heroin jumped from 34 in 2013 to 57 in 2014, the article states.