Kennebec Journal cites Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center report in article on drug crisis

The Kennebec Journal cited a report issued by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine in an article about Kennebec County officials considering whether they will sign a lawsuit against companies that manufacture and distribute opiate drugs. In 2017, drug overdoses killed a record 418 people in Maine. The majority of those deaths have resulted from people taking opiates, either prescription or illegal drugs, according to the article. In Kennebec County, 47 overdose deaths were reported in 2017, according to the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center’s Expanded Maine Drug Death Report for 2017, the article states.