Drug addiction wrecks lives and destroys communities. Last year, 208 Mainers died of drug-related causes. The reasons for drug abuse include poverty, alienation, easy access to drugs, childhood trauma, impulsive behavior and poor judgment. There are no easy solutions.
One way we can help those who want to restore their lives is to provide convenient access to treatment and a path to recovery. Nearly a year ago, the Bangor City Council, working with city officials, representatives of the region’s major medical and community health agencies and the Community Health Leadership Board, created the Substance Abuse Task Force. Its mission was to assess the region’s current treatment options and their reliance on Bangor’s methadone clinics. These clinics currently provide daily medication dosing for 1,300-1,500 patients in eastern and northern Maine, some traveling from as far away as Houlton.
The top five recommendations of the task force include increasing community awareness of this shared challenge and the need to address the problem of stigma, assessing available treatment options, decreasing the availability of narcotics by improving provider protocols, establishing a social detox facility (there currently is no detox facility in the region) and increasing treatment options for rural patients.
The fifth option is before the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. LD 524 is a resolve that will make it easier for those with opioid dependence to be treated closer to home with Suboxone.
Suboxone is a sublingual pill that is not easily abused and works for many addicts with less severe forms of addiction. It can be prescribed by a certified local family physician and will allow a patient to keep a job, maintain family ties and not need to travel to and from Bangor on a daily basis for methadone. Treatment close to home gives addicts a fighting chance to recapture a normal life.
Unfortunately, there are many obstacles to rural prescription of Suboxone. Local doctors already are too busy. They often are unwilling to take on a new group of socially stigmatized and demanding patients with a special set of difficult problems. Relapse is common, as with any disease. Reimbursement is low. State and federal rules and regulations are stringent, with severe penalties for not following specific treatment and prescribing protocols.
With LD 524, the hope is to change this.
Sen. Geoff Gratwick, D-Bangor, has been a tireless advocate for Bangor, and this bill will establish a task force to explore barriers to local doctors providing Suboxone treatment and, most importantly, determine how to overcome those barriers. Doctors as well as patients need the right help. Insurance must pay adequately for their services. Office staff needs training. Law and common sense require patients have regular counseling sessions. Doctors need mentoring by specialists when their patients experience difficulty and fail to stick with the program.
Passing this resolve is a small but important first step making it possible for those in our region who need treatment for addiction to receive it close to home, their jobs and the support of families. People throughout eastern and northern Maine need to make their voices heard.
Legislators, Republicans and Democrats, should support LD 524. It is good medicine that will help patients through the recovery process, and it is good economics that will help our communities
Pauline Civiello serves on the Bangor City Council. Sen. James Dill, D-Old Town, represents District 5 in the Maine Senate.