Earlier this year, local governments across Maine were required to report how they spent their opioid settlement funds for the first time.
Data collected by the attorney general’s office and the Maine Opioid Settlement Support (MOSS) Center at the University of Southern Maine show the counties and municipalities spent $3 million in 2025 on projects ranging from behavioral health liaisons to prevention programs in schools.
More than third of the funds went to programs within police departments or jails.
Here’s a closer look at what the data shows:
Here’s how much local governments spent last year
Data collected by the MOSS Center shows how much each local government spent last year, and what remains in their accounts. About three-quarters of the local governments spent some funds last year, with others saying they had budgeted funds but had yet to spend them or were still in the planning phase.
Here’s what they spent the money on
The money, which comes from nationwide settlements reached with more than a dozen pharmaceutical companies that made or sold prescription opioids, is intended to address the harms caused by the opioid epidemic by supporting treatment, harm reduction, recovery and prevention initiatives.
The local governments reported spending around $3 million on 72 projects, including addiction treatment in jails, behavioral health workers, recovery centers, programs that help people in recovery re-enter the workforce, a van providing treatment to people living on the street, incentives for people to get tested for HIV, training sessions for community members to respond to overdoses, youth mentoring services, awareness campaigns and more.
Here’s who made the decisions
In addition to collecting spending data, the MOSS Center asked each local government questions about their decision-making process, governance and monitoring. The subdivisions were not required by law to answer these questions; all but Knox County did so.
Recovery from addiction is possible. For help, please call the free and confidential treatment referral hotline (1-800-662-HELP) or visit findtreatment.gov.
This story was funded in part by a micro-grant from Reporting on Addiction.
