CARIBOU, Maine — Ross Hicks, who has been appointed to the State of Maine Task Force to address Opiate Addiction, will address the topic of overdose prevention on Thursday evening, May 11, as part of a town hall meeting in Caribou focused on the growing issue of opiate addiction and other substance abuse issues.
The town hall style community meeting will begin at 6:30 pm at the Caribou Performing Arts Center. The entire community is invited to attend. Deb Gray, LCSW, CADC and CEO of Life by Design, a Mental Health, Substance, Drug and Alcohol Abuse center in Caribou, said she hopes people will turn out for the meeting ready to go to work.
“As we are working to plan this meeting we are learning of more tragedy related to substance abuse in our area,” said Gray, who is a member of the planning committee for the community meeting. “It is time that we combined our efforts from every segment of the community to come up with solutions.”
In addition to Hicks, the program will also feature comments by those in recovery and those who have lost loved ones to drug overdose, as well as the film “The Anonymous People.” The documentary film focuses on the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs, told through the faces and voices of the citizens, leaders, volunteers, corporate executives and public figures who are laying it all on the line to save the lives of others just like them.
Hicks joined the Navy shortly after high school, and during his eight and a half years of service earned two Navy and Marine Corps achievement medals. In 2010 he was awarded the 2010 Federal Employee of the Year award for the entire naval region of Hawaii. In 2013, he was medically retired and moved back to Maine. Since then he has started and completed a bachelor’s in political science, entered long term recovery from substance use disorder and begun working for the Health Equity Alliance (HEAL) as the harm reduction coordinator. During his time with HEAL Ross has developed and implemented an efficient overdose prevention program.
Peter McCorison, director of substance abuse services at the Aroostook Mental Health Center, said Hicks is very focused on preventing deaths from drug overdose.
“Ross is very concerned about the growing number of deaths here in Maine from drug overdose,” said McCorison, who is part of the committee planning for the Town Hall meeting. “He speaks from experience and has been a strong advocate for making Narcan more readily available to individuals at risk for overdose.”
Narcan or Naloxone is a prefilled auto-injection device (Evzio) used along with emergency medical treatment to reverse the life-threatening effects of a known or suspected opiate (narcotic) overdose. The medication also comes in a nasal spray. Currently Narcan is generally prescribed by a health care provider. Due to stigma associated with drug abuse, many addicts or those at risk for overdose will not seek out the Narcan and many states have now made it possible for family members to access the life-saving product.
The planning committee hopes to bring individuals who are in recovery, those who have suffered loss due to substance abuse and those in the treatment profession will attend the May 11 meeting. Bill Flagg, director of community relations and development at Cary Medical Center, said building a successful recovery community needs many perspectives.
“We know that we do not know the answers,” said Flagg, who is chairing the planning committee. “We need to hear from those most affected by the tragedy of addiction, from families, and those in the helping professions. We hope many voices will be heard.”
There is no requirement to pre-register for the community meeting. There will be an opportunity for individuals to sign up for action committees that will begin meeting the week following the event. The community meeting was made possible by a grant from the District Coordinating Council for Public Health or DCC. For more information contact the community relations office at Cary Medical Center 498-1112.
