A new state law requires on-duty law enforcement patrol officers in Maine to carry the opioid-overdose reversal drug Narcan.
Auburn Police Chief Jason Moen said many departments already require it. Auburn adopted the policy roughly eight years ago in response to the proliferation of fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid.
“We were seeing a lot of overdoses when that was first introduced, so it made sense to help save lives to start carrying that, because it reverses the effects pretty quickly for fentanyl,” Moen said.
Through October of last year, 513 people in Maine died from a drug overdose, and records were set in each of the three previous years.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.