AUGUSTA — From January through June, 189 Mainers died of drug overdoses – of which about 60 percent was due to opioids.

In a news release issued Monday, Maine Attorney General Janet Mills said the number of deaths is up by 50 percent over the same period last year, and that Maine is on track to set another grim record in 2016.

The increase in the number of deaths is driven by fentanyl, an illicitly manufactured drug that is many times more lethal than morphine.

Illicit fentanyl and its chemical analogs caused 44 percent of the deaths in the six-month period, said Dr. Marcella Sag of the Margaret Chase Smith Police Center, which analyzes overdose deaths for the AG’s office.

Fentanyl products are often mixed with or presented to the user as heroin. Figures supplied by Mills show 113 of the 189 overdose deaths were due to opioids, including heroin, fentanyl, morphine and others.

Mills said pharmaceutical painkillers, often trafficked from out of state, have continued to be an important feature of overdose deaths, affecting about 45 percent. Pharmaceutical and illicit opioid drugs are often found in combination.

In 2015, Maine experienced a total of 272 overdose deaths – 126 in the first half of the year and 146 in the second half.

“Fentanyl, heroin and painkillers are exacting a tremendous toll on our state,” said Mills in a prepared statement. “These figures are very distressing. People should know there is no safe amount to sniff or shoot. There is no safe party pill, and combinations can be lethal.

“If it doesn’t kill you it will lead to a lifetime of addiction, illness and hopelessness. If a person is tempted to try these drugs, even if they are not thinking of their own well-being, they should be thinking of the well-being of their family, friends and loved ones.”

The AG’s office has been distributing naloxone to local law enforcement agencies in recent months so officers responding to a suspected overdose can administer the antidote.

So far, Mills said her office has distributed 866 doses to 26 law enforcement agencies, which have reported administering the naloxone 14 times.

“I hope that more people get the message before another grim record is set in this state,” Mills said.