Please go to the Portland Press Herald to read the full article. Signing L.D. 775 would expand and restore much-needed support services for people with mental illness. By: Lori K. Garmlich - Special to the Press Herald ~~Excerpt Everyone deserves access to the health care they need to live safe and stable lives in their own communities. That includes mental health services. But here in Maine, we are falling short of providing that access. Our mental health care system is fractured, ... Read More ›
Look to Portugal to address the opioid crisis
Please go to the Bangor Daily News to read the full opinion piece. By Robert W. Glover, Opinion guest column ~~Excerpt In the 1990s, Portugal faced a staggering opioid crisis. Roughly 1 in 10 individuals was using heroin; 1 percent of the population was addicted. Portugal’s prisons brimmed with those convicted of drug-related crime. High-risk behaviors produced public health crises, exploding HIV and hepatitis infection rates, homelessness and violent crime. One person I spoke to ... Read More ›
York Hospital ER prescribing Suboxone
Please go to Seacoast Online to read the full article. By Deborah McDermott dmcdermott@seacoastonline.com ~~Excerpt YORK, Maine -- In a new initiative to help people overcome opioid addiction, York Hospital is among the first hospitals in Maine to begin prescribing Suboxone -- a medical treatment for opioid withdrawal symptoms -- in its emergency department. “We knew we simply had to do more to combat the most significant public health crisis of our generation,” said Dr. ... Read More ›
MaineGeneral Health seeks input about opioid use disorder
Please go to Central Maine Online to read the full article. Survey to help Partners for Recovery program better understand beliefs, knowledge and attitudes about the disorder. ~~Excerpt MaineGeneral Health’s Partners for Recovery program is looking to reduce stigma and increase treatment for opiate addiction in Kennebec and Somerset counties. Stigma is a barrier to individuals with substance use disorder getting access to treatment and to staying in recovery. ... Read More ›
Maine gets $6 million in federal funding to address opioid crisis
Please go to the Portland Press Herald to read the full article. Community health centers, hospital networks and the University of Maine are recipients of money to support treatment programs and workforce development in the treatment sector. By: Joe Lawlor, Staff Writer ~~Excerpt Maine health agencies have secured $6 million in federal grants to battle the opioid crisis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday. The $6 million will go to community health ... Read More ›
As use of opioid antidote increases, drug overdose deaths decline
Please go to the Portland Press Herald to read the full article. Naloxone doses are now widely available in Maine pharmacies, although a new federal database shows significant variations in sales by county. By: Joe Lawlor Staff Writer ~~Excerpt In Maine and across the United States, prescriptions for a life-saving opioid antidote have escalated since 2016, according to federal and state statistics. Meanwhile, after climbing for years, drug overdose deaths started declining for the first ... Read More ›
How to Talk About Addiction
Please go to WGME-TV to read the full article. by Taylor Cairns ~~Excerpt PORTLAND (WGME) -- Maine's public health crisis of opioid use is well documented. In 2017, Maine saw more than 400 people die from drug-induced deaths. Some recovery service experts in Portland say they're hoping to change the way people see addiction by changing how people talk about it. "Language is really powerful," Kelli Fox said, an assistant clinical professor at the University of New England. "How we ... Read More ›
Registration Open for Hill Day 2019
"We need your expertise. We need your story. We need your passion." At NatCon19, WE celebrated our collective efforts to expand access to comprehensive, high-quality care for all Americans and impact change in our communities. Now it’s time that WE go to Capitol Hill and advocate for those who need us. What started as a small group of inspired advocates 15 years ago has blossomed into the nation's leading behavioral health advocacy event of the year with more than 600 attendees from across ... Read More ›
Emergency hospital admissions for drug overdoses have declined in Maine since 2017
Please go to Central Maine Online to read the full article. The trend mirrors a statewide decrease in overdose deaths, with improved access to Suboxone and naloxone. By: Joe Lawlor ~~Excerpt Admissions to emergency departments at Maine hospitals for drug overdoses have gradually declined since 2017, according to statistics released recently by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Suspected drug overdose admissions in the first six months of 2019 declined 11 percent ... Read More ›
Access to drug treatment shouldn’t end during incarceration
Please go to the Bangor Daily News to read the full editorial. By: The Editorial Board ~~Excerpt Research has long shown that medication-assisted treatment can be the most effective means to deal with substance abuse disorder. Despite this, longstanding policies prohibited the use of this treatment in many of Maine’s correctional facilities, where a significant percentage of inmates are coping with addiction. This has made recovery more difficult, and even dangerous, for thousands ... Read More ›