Illegal drug use is on the rise in Maine ”“ and other New England states ”“ and drug-related deaths are increasing as a result.
Maine Attorney General Janet Mills and the state’s Chief Medical Examiner Margaret Greenwald said recently that the increased incidents of drug use and drug trafficking represent a crisis.
In a joint statement, the two said, “The problem of drug addiction and drug trafficking is a public health crisis requiring treatment and support, preventative services and a greater focus on education and creative criminal justice approaches such as Drug Court and Co-occurring Disorder Courts.”
Their assertion is backed up by the numbers.
According to state records, there were 163 drug-induced deaths in Maine in 2012. Of those, 28 died as a result of heroin overdose ”“ compared to seven heroin overdose deaths in 2011.
The figure includes all deaths in which one or more drugs are mentioned on the death certificate as a cause or as a significant contributing factor. Most of these deaths are reportedly accidental overdoses, according to Mills and Greenwald.
Roy McKinney, director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, told the Associated Press recently that the rise in heroin-related deaths corresponds to what his agents are seeing on the streets: more heroin and fewer synthetic narcotics.
In 2011, the MDEA investigated 69 heroin cases, and the following year, that jumped to 223 cases. During the same time period, the number of investigations involving synthetic drugs decreased from 386 to 294, according to the AP.
In addition to increased deaths and use, the state is seeing more babies being born addicted to drugs.
Last year, Mills and Greenwald said, 927 babies born in Maine were under the influence of illegal drugs, which is due to their mother’s abuse of illegal substances. That is more than twice the number in 2009, and a dramatic increase from the low of 165 in 2005.
Back in November, Gov. Paul LePage said he planned to address the issue, but medical professionals said a major obstacle for pregnant women in treatment for drug addition was the two-year cap on methadone and buprenorphine treatment for Medicaid patients. Methadone and buprenorphine are used to treat opiate addiction, and they can be given to pregnant women to help them cope with their addiction during pregnancy.
While the drugs can cause babies to experience withdrawal after they are born, they help prevent pregnant women from going through withdrawal, which can cause pre-term labor and further negatively impact the baby’s health, according to Dr. Mark Publicker, of the Mercy Hospital Recovery Center in Westbrook.
Treatment and education are going to be the major components to reducing the state’s rates of drug use and drug-related deaths.
Access and participation are also important to those who need the treatment and education.
Recently, a methadone clinic opened in Sanford after many, many months of going back and forth with the city for approval.
Spectrum Health Systems opened the site, and dosing hours from are 6-9:30 a.m. daily. Doses are handed to clients by nurses from behind secure windows, and the outpatient clinic also provides counseling and medication-assisted treatment to individuals addicted to heroin and other opioid drugs, such as OxyContin and hydrocodone.
This kind of accessible treatment is necessary in the fight against drug addiction, and hopefully those in need of treatment will be able to get it for as long as it takes to get clean. If Maine doesn’t reverse this trend soon, it will become even more difficult to combat in the future.
Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ
Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham Rousseau on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
