Candice Mcelroy News Today

The festival was cancelled for two years because of the pandemic but has returned to Portland with several speakers and vegan food.

Maine lawmakers and health officials realized easy access to prescription opioids was creating dependency issues and clamped down, but did not anticipate how well the illegal drug market would fill the void.

Twenty years after Purdue Pharma introduced its pain medication, OxyContin, Maine lawmakers passed a bill that significantly stemmed the flow of pain pills into the state. A Sun Journal investigation found the new restrictions may have been too little, too late: A generation of Mainers were already grappling with substance use disorder and a growing illicit drug trade was ready to meet the demand.