Last year I blogged about two State-of-the-State addresses: one by Maine's Governor LePage and the other given by Governor Shumlin of Vermont. Both Maine and Vermont have seen a drastic rise in heroin use rates; while Governor LePage trotted out disproven and antiquated drug war rhetoric, Governor Shumlin garnered national attention for calling for a new progressive health-based approach to combating addiction and pledged state money to expanding treatment options.
One year later, neither state can say they have completely solved their drug problem – however, while Maine continues to see drug arrests skyrocket, treatment waiting lists grow, and overdose rates tragically rise, Vermont appears to actually be making some progress and the general consensus is they are on the right track.
For example, check out this report recently released by the Vermont Recovery Network, a statewide network of recovery centers that helps those battling addiction get into clinical treatment programs, connects clients to other social services, and provides peer-to-peer support services. A study of people that utilized their services found hugely positive results: participants were more likely to maintain sobriety, had improved health outcomes, increased employment and housing stability and decreased criminal involvement. Only 12 percent of participants engaged in criminal activity after utilizing the recovery center’s services (compare that with the over 50 percent of people incarcerated for drug offenses in Maine who will be re-incarcerated within 3 years of release).
Meanwhile, in Maine our newspapers are full of stories of prison and jail overcrowding and budget crises as our county jails become our new de facto detox and substance abuse and mental health treatment centers. Overdose deaths continue to climb and demand for treatment continues to grow.
Over the past year, I have had the privilege of traveling across the state and meeting with medical and treatment providers who are doing amazing work on the front lines of Maine's opiate addiction crisis. They know that treatment works: they see the benefits of their work everyday, as those they help are able to maintain sobriety and put their lives back together. However, they are also seeing their patients struggle. They see patients forced out of treatment as they lose their health benefits; they see them struggle as their felony records continue to create barriers to finding employment and housing; and they are seeing more and more people who want treatment turned away due to lack of resources. Meanwhile, our governor is too busy shifting the already insufficient drug treatment funds between different types of treatment programs.
If we want to combat rising addiction rates in our state, it’s time for Maine to take a new approach. The last 40 years have made one thing clear: we cannot arrest our way out of this problem. Addiction is a complicated and often devastating disease and further punishing people for it is not the answer. It is time for our policymakers to recognize that drug addiction is a public health problem and we need to invest in health-based solutions. Given the huge cost of rising addiction rates - to families, communities and our state - we cannot afford not to.
