Community Epidemiology Surveillance Network (CESN)

Based on a need that was identified following the epidemic proportions of misuse of OxyContin in Maine beginning in 1997, the Maine Office of Substance Abuse and the Bureau of Health, Department of Health and Human Services collaborated to create a Community Epidemiology Surveillance Network (CESN). The CESN is based on a national model from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The intent of the CESN is to identify troubling trends of substance use/abuse in an effort to either prevent the widespread use of the drug or to get programs into place that can effectively treat the particular substance. Attainment of the CESN goals will be achieved by collecting data from a variety of existing data sources and looking for rapidly developing trends.

A kick-off meeting for the initiative took place in June, 2003. Many agencies who collected data that would be of help in drug surveillance attended the meeting.

Some of those agencies were:

• Maine Bureau of Health
• Maine Department of Public Safety
• Maine Drug Enforcement Agency
• Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory
• Maine Office of the Attorney General
• Maine Office of Chief Medical Examiner
• Maine Office of Substance Abuse
• Maine Opiate Treatment Providers Association
• Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy, University of Maine
• Northern New England Poison Control Center
• Portland Department of Public Health

The primary objectives identified at the meeting were to:

The network is a multi-agency work group which studies the spread, growth and development of drug abuse in Maine and its communities. Network members contribute information they routinely collect. Also, qualitative data is collected from a variety of key informants to particularly identify emerging trends. The CESN meets periodically to assess information from the multiple sources comprising the network and draw conclusions about drug abuse.

Surveillance reports and fact sheets will be updated as needed.