RUMFORD – A cooperative effort by the Maine Council of Senior Citizens and Oxford County’s Democratic candidates has resulted in a chance for local people to travel to Canada to buy lower-priced prescription drugs.

This will be the 10th such trip co-sponsored by the Maine Council of Senior Citizens since the program started in 1999, said the group’s executive director, Neena Quirion.

Cathy Newell, chairwoman of the Oxford County Democratic Committee, said the party is working to raise the $3,000 needed to hire the bus that will travel to Calais/St. Stephen, New Brunswick. A fee of $50 from each participant will be required prior to the departure of the trip on Oct. 13. That money may be refunded.

Twenty people from Oxford County will be able to take the trip, provided all the required paperwork is submitted to the MCSC by Sept. 27. Several sites in Oxford County will be designated as pickup spots at a future date.

The last time the MCSC sponsored a prescription drug trip to Canada was from Saco in June. At that time, Quirion said 12 people saved nearly $28,000 for a year’s worth of their medications.

In the past, other groups, such as labor unions, the Alliance for Retired Americans, and the Catholic Diocese of Maine, have helped the MCSC sponsor the trips.

This is the first time a political party has sponsored one.

Bruce Bryant, running for re-election as a state senator covering much of Oxford County, said the issue of high priced drugs must continually be raised.

“This is a major hardship for senior citizens. There needs to be federal and state work done on it,” he said.

The Democratic offices in Mexico and Norway, the Rumford Senior Citizens office, and the MCSC has the paperwork that must be filled out prior to traveling to Calais. Those applications can also be obtained by calling the MCSC office in Augusta at 1-800-452-8794.

In addition, the county’s Democratic candidates will pitch the idea when they visit the county’s senior citizen clubs over the next few weeks.

“Maine has always taken the leadership roll in many issues. I hope they will with this one,” said John Patrick, who is running for re-election to District 92.