BANGOR, Maine — A group formed to tackle one of Maine’s costliest problems has come up with a lengthy list of recommended solutions. Now comes the difficult task of implementing them.
Bangor-area health care leaders, law enforcement officials, educators and politicians met for the first time in late August, with the goal of identifying ways to stem an epidemic of drug abuse in the region. Since then, the group has come together to listen to addiction experts, treatment officials, first responders and others who deal with drug-related problems on a daily basis and try to identify solutions.
Drug abuse is a costly issue in Maine. From 2005 to 2010, the estimated costs associated with alcohol and drug abuse skyrocketed from $898 million to $1.4 billion, according to a Maine Department of Health and Human Services study. That includes expenses ranging from hospital care for people who have overdosed to jail and court operations focused on drug crime.
In 2012, the estimated cost was about $1.2 billion, according to DHHS, or about $888 for every Maine resident.
One of the biggest shortfalls the group identified is a lack of detox options in the Bangor area. Outgoing Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross has said over the years that his jail is the largest detox facility in the state, even though it isn’t designed or equipped to serve in that role in a sustainable, efficient way.
Dr. Allen Schaffer, chief of psychiatry for Community Health and Counseling Services, recommended a different model of addiction treatment — “social detox.”
People suffering from addiction who end up in the hospital or jail because of their drug use often want to receive help to prevent it from happening again. However, the waiting list to enter treatment can be lengthy, and hospitals and jails are only equipped to treat withdrawal symptoms for a short period before releasing the individual, who often ends up going back to his or her old ways without pursuing treatment further.
Under the “social detox” model, access to treatment and detox services is made as simple as possible, Schaffer said. A person seeking help at a hospital can be “fast-tracked” for a medical assessment, treated for withdrawal symptoms and referred to a “social detox” facility for a stay of up to a week. Such a facility would offer extensive counseling and social help. The person would be allowed to use the facility under the condition that they continue with recovery programs.
Still, to make that happen, the area will need several 10-12-bed detox facilities that currently don’t exist, Shaffer said.
Among the other proposals are to reintroduce a bill that would allow federally qualified health centers to administer methadone, preventing people from driving hours every day to receive their treatments in Bangor or Calais.
Also on the list is educating medical professionals about and expanding use of the prescription monitoring program, which allows physicians and other health care providers to track what medications a person is using and in some cases determine whether a person might be “medication shopping.”
The group also wants to partner closely with media organizations to address the stigma surrounding addiction treatment, encouraging people to pursue recovery rather than shaming them for struggling with addiction in the first place.
After a Nov. 12 meeting at the Cross Insurance Center to put the final touches on the list and prioritize the recommendations, the suggestions will be passed on to the Community Health Leadership Board — a group formed this year, composed of nine CEOs and leaders at area health care organizations.
“The group will see these recommendations and figure out how they can make it happen, not just communitywide, but regionwide,” said Patty Hamilton, Bangor’s public health director. The CEOs provide a “higher-level, powerful group voice” that serves the best chance of spurring regional and statewide change to address the epidemic, Hamilton said.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter @nmccrea213.