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Scarborough's Operation Hope gains national attention through NBC's 'Today' show

NBC's Kate Snow came to Maine for the 'Today' show series 'Battling Addiction'.

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SCARBOROUGH, Maine — An epidemic that our country is facing is the opioid epidemic. In Maine, it hits close to home.

NBC News' Kate Snow traveled to Maine as part of the "Today" show series Battling Addiction.

Fight against fentanyl: Inside 1 town's opioid battle

Fentanyl is a synthetic drug 50 times more potent than heroin, but it's that potency that draws people to the dangerous opioid. NBC's Kate Snow travels to Maine, where fentanyl is making rounds, to meet a dedicated group trying to beat

According to Snow, the death rate from the drug fentanyl has doubled and 18,000 Americans die each year from fentanyl overdoses.

RELATED| Maine woman continues to help others while mourning her own loss

Snow interviewed Jaime Higgins, who works with Operation Hope, a program launched by the Scarborough Police Department in 2015 under police chief Robert Moulton to help people battling addiction find the resources they need to become sober.

Higgins works with those battling addiction, and places them in detox facilities in the nearby areas.

Snow says, "for [Higgins], the project's mission is personal."

In 2016, Higgins lost her brother Devon to an opioid overdose.

Click here for more information about Operation Hope.