Gov. Paul LePage’s administration is poised to make what sounds like a major announcement this morning in regards to an expansion of substance abuse treatment opportunities in Maine.

Mary Mayhew, commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christopher Pezzullo will brief reporters later this morning on a plan to fund 359 new medication-assisted treatment slots throughout Maine beginning on Jan. 1, 2017.

According to information provided in advance of today’s news conference, those slots will be targeted at people without health insurance in areas of Maine where the need for addiction treatment is most pronounced. The new medication-assisted treatment slots will be distributed as follows:

  • Acadia Hospital in Bangor: 50 slots
  • Discovery House in Bangor: 160 slots
  • Discovery House in Calais: 100 slots
  • Crooked River Counseling in Bridgton: 25 slots
  • Central Maine Counseling (Biddeford): 24 slots

DHHS estimates that there is a waitlist of up to 450 Mainers seeking medication-assisted treatment, which involves inpatient or outpatient counseling and the use of Suboxone or Methadone, which are both medications used to help ease people off opioid addictions.

Funding for the new treatment options will be provided by the DHHS Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services, which intends to further expand these treatment services as needed in Down East and western Maine.

Today’s announcement is notable for a number of reasons, starting with the terrible scope of Maine’s drug addiction problem. One Mainer dies every day, on average, from a drug overdose. According to DHHS data, 8 percent of live births in Maine were infants born exposed to drugs and more than 60 percent of children entering state custody come from families in which substance abuse is a risk factor.

Advertisement

It’s also notable because LePage, who has had a prolonged focus on fighting drug addiction in Maine, has often clashed with treatment professionals, political opponents and families over how to address the state’s surge in opiate addiction. LePage has repeatedly voiced opposition to the use of Narcan — which can immediately reverse the effects of an overdose — and earlier this year vetoed a bill that sought to make Narcan available over the counter and supply police and fire departments with the substance. LePage’s veto of LD 1547 was overridden by the Legislature and the law is in effect.

In 2015, LePage proposed cutting state-funded methadone treatment in an effort to transition people fighting opiate addiction to Suboxone, which is subject to Maine’s prescription monitoring program. In July of this year, the governor said publicly “I’ve been trying to close down methadone clinics since I’ve been governor.”

“When it comes to methadone, every expert I’ve talked to says there’s no clinical aspect to it. … It’s no help. It has to be in a program that’s monitored by clinicians.”

The governor later elaborated to say that counseling should be a condition of ongoing methadone treatment.

LePage has also argued with the Legislature when it came to a bill in early 2016 that provided money for more drug investigators in Maine. Democrats argued, successfully, that the $3.7 million bill should include funds for treatment and education, in addition to law enforcement. LD 1537 was eventually signed by LePage and is currently in law.

The counseling component of the new slots being announced today addresses what LePage apparently sees as a major weakness of the treatment addiction sector.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: