Addressing Maine’s drug crisis
Maine is in the middle of a drug epidemic. According to the Attorney General’s office, 272 Mainers died of drug overdose in 2015, a 31 percent increase over the record 208 overdose deaths recorded the year before.
Here in Aroostook County, we have seen the highest rate of methamphetamine labs out of the entire state. From 2005, law enforcement has seized 43 meth labs and dump sites in Aroostook County and 12 in Penobscot. Most southern counties have each seen four seizures on average in that time, according to an article published by the Bangor Daily News.
As a parent and a lawmaker, I am very concerned about this growing crisis. This year in the Legislature, we passed several measures with bipartisan support to address the epidemic in Maine.
One of the first steps we took was to pass a $3.7 million comprehensive package that provides funding for enforcement, prevention and treatment. The law includes vital funding for this three-pronged approach, including 10 Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents, a 10-bed detoxification center, access for inpatient and outpatient treatment for the uninsured and money to support innovative law enforcement initiatives.
This bill passed with unanimous, bipartisan support. I am proud that we came together as the Legislature and worked on solutions that would address prevention, enforcement and treatment. The epidemic cannot be solved if we don’t focus on all aspects of the problem.
Another bill we passed with bipartisan support this year will give greater access to the overdose reversal drug naloxone by making it available without a prescription. The measure will permit trained pharmacists to provide naloxone without a prescription to eligible individuals.
This will allow family members or friends to counteract an opiate overdose in the small window of time available. In some cases they can do it more quickly than emergency responders, which can be the difference between life and death. The law goes into effect this July.
More than 26,000 people in the United States were saved by the layperson administration of naloxone between 1996 and 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is easy to administer by people who aren’t medically trained. It does not produce euphoria and it is not addictive. It also has no effect if there are no opioids in a person’s system.
This is not the first measure we have passed regarding naloxone. In 2014, we passed a bill that allowed first responders and family members with training to administer naloxone. Last year, we approved an additional measure to expand access to the antidote. At least 44 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws regarding access to naloxone since 2001.
We also passed a law to establish pilot drug addiction recovery programs to reduce substance abuse, related crimes and recidivism. This measure supports local communities that want to customize responses to meet their particular needs.
The programs would divert alleged low-level offenders into community-based treatment and support services to reduce the pre-trial costs to jails and the chances of recidivism.
We cannot have just one approach to tackling this crippling drug epidemic. We need to focus on all three legs of the drug policy stool — enforcement, education and treatment. The measures we took this year were important steps in combating the drug crisis.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have. You can reach me at: SaucierforPI@gmail.com.
Rep. Robert Saucier is in his second term in the Maine House and represents part of Presque Isle. He serves on the Legislature’s Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee and the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. He is also House chair of the Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission.
