NEWS FEED: Dozens stage ‘die-in’ at Portland City Hall to call attention to drug deaths

Fifty-seven people spent nearly an hour of their Friday evening lying motionless on the cold stone plaza in front of Portland City Hall, trying to draw attention to the 57 people who died from drug overdoses in the city last year and efforts to make that number smaller.

Each wore black and a number, and lay in front of cardboard headstones with inscriptions like “I’m your mother,” “I wanted help” and “Killed by war on drugs.”

The somber display caught the attention of about two dozen people, who stopped to watch. One was Mariah Curtis, 26, of Portland, who said the sight of 57 people strewn across the sidewalk and City Hall steps confirmed her conviction that too many Mainers have died from overdoses and not enough is being done.

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