It's not every day that the ACLU of Maine contributes to saving lives, but today we did. We supported LD 1046, a bill that would allow for the administration of naloxone in cases of opiate overdose. The testimony at the public hearing was poignant. Kenneth Miller of the Maine Harm Reduction Alliance testified that drug overdose deaths in Maine more than doubled from 60 in 2000 to 167 in 2010. Naloxone helps to prevent the overdose long enough for emergency treatment to be secured.
The constitutional support for this bill is rooted in a philosophy of treating drug addiction as a public health problem rather than a criminal justice problem. The Fourteenth Amendment protects the right to privacy and personal autonomy, and that means that people should not be punished for offering or seeking help for a potential overdose. The moral and public policy arguments in support of LD 1046 are even stronger than the constitutional arguments.
As our public policy counsel, Jill Barkley, testified at the legislature, this bill will prevent overdose deaths and save lives. That's something that people of various political philosophies can agree upon, and today, the Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send LD 1046 on to the full legislature for approval.
