Fifteen years ago, I was diagnosed with depression. I have had days, even weeks, where just getting out of bed has been a struggle. Those moments come with shame, making it harder to look for help exactly when I needed it most. Fortunately, health care and love from family provide me with what I need to be my best self.

Others aren’t so lucky.

“Deaths of despair” — by suicide, drugs, and alcohol — now kill Americans at a rate equivalent to the AIDS crisis at its worst. Opioid overdoses are the biggest cause. Last year they reached an all-time high: more Americans died from overdoses than in the entire Vietnam War.

In Lewiston, roughly every other week someone dies from an overdose — twice the rate of our share of Maine’s population. As one police officer described to me, the epidemic affects families from every walk of life, “from Knox Street to Pond Road.”

These officers see an all-too familiar story. A man overdoses in a suburban neighborhood, where his wife had no idea about his heroin addiction. It started with legal painkillers. Eventually, doctors cut him off, but without alternative pain management or treatment for his dependency, he turns to heroin, running up gigantic credit card bills, or even engaging in outright theft, to finance the craving.

Law enforcement can’t solve this alone. Unfortunately, Lewiston city leaders have yet to even call a meeting about the epidemic. We have not done, for example, what Westbrook has, where municipal leaders convened a coalition of 70 organizations and individuals to coordinate programs and track results. It required no property tax increases to initiate, and they raised grant money to support it with part-time staff.

Other communities are already seeing results. The Bath/Brunswick region has seen no statistically significant rise in drug overdoses — defying trends across the state and country. Their secret: People ready for treatment never wait more than a few days to receive it. By adopting workflow systems from industrial engineers, and scheduling software used by hairstylists, the Addiction Resource Center (ARC) increased its caseload by 400 percent, while keeping their budget and staffing levels flat. Again, progress hinges on leadership, not always new money.

Fortunately, Lewiston is home to one of the state’s most innovative treatment centers — Grace Street Recovery Services. Ironically, city leaders outside of Androscoggin County have been more interested in working with Grace Street than we have.

Let’s start by convening a coalition like Westbrook, that pulls together innovators like ARC and Grace Street, to see what every part of our community can do to combat this epidemic.

Imagine every medical provider trained in the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for opioid prescriptions. Imagine a weekend where every faith leader de-stigmatizes mental health issues, and outlines resources for recovery in their homilies. Imagine every employer walking through a checklist to avoid chronic pain and workplace injury — and thus the need for painkillers.

We can do more than play catch-up. We can also get to the root of the crisis by holding big pharma accountable. Let’s join the lawsuit against these companies. Just like big tobacco, they caused a health crisis by making false claims about their products.

Let’s also create a local licensure process that requires pharmaceutical sales representatives to register with the city, pay a fee, and disclose the claims they are making about their products. The Affordable Care Act and the policies of some local hospitals give good precedent for this action.

Far from requiring raising property taxes, we are leaving money on the table. Maine will receive $2 million in federal funds to tackle the opioid epidemic next year. We need to position ourselves for those resources, and those offered by private foundations and Maine’s attorney general. Most importantly, this November, Mainers should vote yes on Question 2, so that 70,000 people can get health coverage through Medicaid, dramatically expanding the funding available for treatment.

Our neighbors’ lives are on the line. There are no excuses for inaction. Resources are not our limitation. Shame, stigma, and ignorance are.

As Marty O’Brien, from Grace Street Recovery, said to me: “The opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety, it is belonging.”

Community, not criminalization, is the only way forward. It is time for all of us to come together and do our part.

Ben Chin is the political engagement director at Maine People’s Alliance.

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