BANGOR, Maine — Rep. Bruce Poliquin is scheduled to host a town hall-style meeting at Eastern Maine Community College on Tuesday to discuss addiction prevention and treatment.
The town hall, scheduled for 6-8 p.m. in Maine Hall, will focus on practical prevention and early intervention tips, an overview of the different types of substance abuse disorder treatment programs available, and an overview of drugs’ impacts on the brain.
Attendees also will be able to talk with eastern Maine prevention, treatment, law enforcement and health care leaders.
Speakers include Ashley Leavitt and her family, Bangor Public Health and Community Services Prevention Coordinator Robin Carr Slauenwhite, Wellspring Executive Director Pay Kimball and Larry Tyler of Families and Children Together.
Deputies from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office will provide a prescription take-back in which attendees can safely dispose of unused prescription drugs.
Poliquin, R-Maine, said the idea for Operation Community SAFER came from conversations he’s had about the state’s opioid epidemic.
“I lost a family member to a long battle with addiction and so I know what it’s like to feel helpless and hopeless in the face of this deadly disease,” Poliquin said. “This forum will provide simple steps to help prevent substance abuse and connections to resources close to home so we can better support our loved ones to get help and get healthy so they can be positive and productive members of our families and our communities.”
