CAMDEN, Maine — Jasmin Pike is finally speaking out about the July letter in which Gov. Paul LePage called her “mean-spirited.” She said she was “shocked and appalled” by his criticism.
Pike, a Camden resident, is one of the people in Knox County spearheading an effort to create a recovery center for people addicted to opiates.
At a July 18 forum in Rockland, the governor, who did not attend, was criticized for what speakers claimed was his opposition to opioid replacement treatment and for the use of Narcan to revive people for have overdosed.
During the session, Pike said of LePage, “Every time he opens his mouth, we have to fight the damage.”
A week later, Pike and Jennifer Gunderman of Montville, who is a member of the faculty at the University of New England in Biddeford, received a letter from the governor, saying they had misconstrued his policy stance on Narcan and methadone to treat people with opiate addictions.
He concluded by taking direct aim at Pike. “So, Ms. Pike, despite your mean-spirited ideology, I will continue to open my mouth and I will continue to fight for a comprehensive, effective and affordable approach to ending this drug pandemic and saving the lives of fellow Mainers,” LePage said in the July 25 letter.
On Friday, Pike said, “I was shocked and appalled that he sent it to me.”
She said she decided to go public with the governor’s letter to help raise awareness of the need for adequate treatment for opiate addiction.
“As someone in recovery who is volunteering my time to help others, I don’t think it is right for him to call me mean-spirited,” Pike said.
She said the governor should have more empathy and kindness when he talks about people with addiction.
Pike said she considers the governor’s letter mean-spirited but would still like to meet with LePage along with other recovery advocates to discuss common ground to help people.
The governor stated in his letter that he was not opposed to Narcan shots: “In fact, I signed a bill that provides access to Narcan to family members. However, giving multiple shots of Narcan to an overdose victim is not treatment.”
He pointed out that in 2015, EMS personnel administered 1,027 shots of Narcan.
“Despite all these shots, five Mainers a week still died of overdoses in 2015. The use of Narcan, while it extended the lives of many addicts, did not successfully treat or save the lives of well over 1,000 Mainers,” LePage said.
LePage vetoed a bill in April to allow pharmacists to dispense the drug over the counter. The Legislature, however, overrode the veto and the bill became law.
The governor also maintained in his letter that he was not opposed to methadone treatment if it includes counseling by professionals.
He said a three-pronged approach to the opiate crisis that includes education, treatment and law enforcement is needed.
Statewide in 2015, a record 272 people died as the result of overdosing — a 31 percent increase over 2014, when there were 208. The increase was blamed on the use of heroin, fentanyl or a combination of the two drugs in the second half of last year.
Heroin use was most prevalent among the southern and coastal regions — specifically York, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Kennebec and Knox counties, according to a 2015 analysis of arrest and treatment data by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services. Rates of heroin trafficking sales and arrests were highest in the midcoast.