BANGOR, Maine — The number of young Mainers dying from drug overdoses decreased in recent years, according to a national study released Thursday that credited the state for implementing substance misuse prevention initiatives.
Maine ranked seventh lowest in the country for youth drug overdose deaths, with a rate of 4.7 per 100,000 residents ages 12-25, according to the Trust for America’s Health report, Reducing Teen Substance Misuse: What Really Works. The national rate is 7.3 per 100,000.
Maine’s youth drug overdose rate decreased significantly from 10.2 per 100,000 in the group’s last study. But it still remains higher than the rate of 3.6 the state recorded 15 years ago.
The Trust for America’s Health numbers are based on three-year average rates collected from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 2011-13 as the most recent study grouping. They compared those numbers with other three-year data collected in 2005-07 and 1999-2001.
“More than 90 percent of adults who develop a substance use disorder began using before they were 18,” Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health, said in a press release about the 100-page report. “Achieving any major reduction in substance misuse will require a reboot in our approach — starting with a greater emphasis on preventing use before it starts, intervening and providing support earlier and viewing treatment and recovery as a long-term commitment.”
Maine was one of five states where youth overdose rates dropped, with Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee all following suit.
Fatal youth overdose rates were highest in West Virginia, at 12.6 per 100,000 youth, and lowest in North Dakota, with 2.2 overdose deaths per 100,000 youth.
The data show that men are 2.5 times more likely to overdose than women, the report states.
All of Maine’s ranking numbers are based on data involving men ages 19-25 who died from drug overdoses in the state between 2011-13. Data on women and men under the age of 19 who overdosed during that time period were not released because they totaled fewer than 10, the report states.
In the past 12 years, fatal youth overdose rates have doubled in 18 states and more than tripled in 12 states, including nearby New Hampshire, which ranked 15th highest in the country, with a rate of 9.3 per 100,000 youth, ages 12-25.
“The increase in youth drug overdose deaths is largely tied to increases in prescription drug misuse and the related doubling in heroin use by 18- to 25-year-olds in the past 10 years,” the report states. “[About] 45 percent of people who use heroin are also addicted to prescription painkillers.”
The report also includes a review of 10 strategies states can use to combat prescription drug abuse by improving the well-being of children and young adults. The list includes support for academic achievement, drug treatment and prevention programs, good Samaritan laws, depression treatment, medical screening, mental health funding, sentencing reform, and programs to prevent underage drinking, smoking and bullying.
Maine scored nine out of 10, missing only a good Samaritan law, which would provide immunity to those who call 911 when someone overdoses on drugs. The Maine Legislature approved a good Samaritan bill last spring, but Gov. Paul LePage vetoed it.
In another Trust for America’s Health report about prescription drug abuse, issued in October 2013, Maine had implemented five of the strategies, ranking in the bottom 17 states.
More recent data indicate a continuing drug problem in Maine. Attorney General Janet Mills issued a warning in August saying the state was on track to repeat drug overdose rates from 2014, which was the worst year on record.
A total of 105 people died from a drug overdose in the first six months of this year. Of those, 37 deaths were primarily attributable to heroin and 26 primarily to fentanyl, a powerful opioid pain medication, according to an analysis of case files conducted for the attorney general’s office by the state medical examiner’s office.
In 2014, 208 people died of overdoses, 57 primarily attributable to heroin and 43 primarily attributable to fentanyl.
There were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2013, according to the Trust for America’s Health report. Of these, 22,767, or 51.8 percent, were related to prescription drugs, mostly opioid painkillers.