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Portland approves grant to add drug-checking services aimed at reducing overdoses
Summary
The council accepted a $23,815.42 subaward with MaineHealth to launch Project Dharma's drug-checking services in Portland, emphasizing anonymized data collection for public-health surveillance, overdose prevention and referrals to wraparound services.
The Portland City Council unanimously approved an order to accept and appropriate $23,815.42 toward Project Dharma, a partnership with MaineHealth that will pilot drug-checking services intended to reduce overdose fatalities and improve public-health surveillance.
Maggie McLaughlin, the city's director of health and human services, told the council the program will use residue testing with FTIR spectroscopy to identify chemical signatures in the local supply, provide education to people who use drugs, and share anonymized findings with public-health and care providers to respond more quickly to changes or overdose clusters.
"This is an important grant which would allow us to expand our services that we offer for the community in partnership with MaineHealth," McLaughlin said, describing aims that include education, faster surveillance and referrals to treatment and recovery supports. She said data gathered would be anonymized and used to inform public-health responses rather than for enforcement.
Cassandra Wilbur, who works for the state prescription-monitoring program, spoke in support of Project Dharma, noting instances at other sites where participants discarded substances after receiving positive test results for fentanyl.
Councilors asked technical and privacy questions. McLaughlin said the testing is primarily residue-based ("like a piece of tinfoil") and that the city would partner with police for safe disposal only when needed; she said the FTIR tool can match chemical signatures and that MaineHealth will help interpret results and design protocols with input from people who use drugs.
The council approved the order unanimously.
What the grant covers: The subaward enables the city to participate in a drug-checking pilot with MaineHealth and to measure outcome variables for evaluation. City staff said this program fills a gap in Maine's existing coverage, which at the time was limited to Washington County and Biddeford.
Next steps: Staff will refine protocols through focus groups and workshops, finalize anonymized data-sharing practices, and begin operational testing if grant conditions and procurement are satisfied.
