AUGUSTA, Maine — The opioid crisis has claimed hundreds of lives in Maine and affected thousands of others. Last week, NEWS CENTER Maine's partners at the Portland Press Herald reported an estimated 636 people died from drug overdoses in 2021 — a 23 percent increase from the previous record set in 2020. Now, legislators are working at the state level to try to address the epidemic.
Maine is expected to receive millions of dollars from big pharma lawsuits. As a result, Rep. Charlotte Warren, D-Hallowell, wants to make sure opioid settlement funds go toward helping Mainers who opioids have harmed. She's sponsoring LD 1722, An Act To Ensure Access to All Paths to Recovery for Persons Affected by Opioids Using Money Obtained through Litigation against Opioid Manufacturers, which was carried over from the last session. She said her key goals with this legislation are putting some "guardrails" around those millions of dollars and being very transparent about how the money is spent.
"We firmly believe that the money should be used to help the folks that have suffered," Warren said, later adding, "You can't be a Mainer right now without having a loved one who has been affected by the opioid crisis."
Warren, who serves as the House chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, said Maine was one of the original targets of big pharma since a number of the state's "heritage industries" (fishing, lobstering, logging, etc.) leave people prone to injuries. She said about two Mainers are dying per day from accidental overdoses. She said those deaths would be "totally preventable" with more resources available to those struggling.
"These people are real. They are people with children. They are people with jobs. They are people who go to the grocery store. They are people just trying to navigate their lives," Warren said.
This issue extends across the political aisle. Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Calais, is the Senate leader for the Health and Human Services Committee. She said Washington County, in particular, has been hit hard by substance use disorder, so it's important to let people know what kind of options are available for help and to establish more resources like counseling, housing, and transportation.
"It's in everybody's backyard," Moore said. "Someone we know, someone we love has had some substance use disorder of some sort."
She said she expects LD 1722 represents how Maine will handle the opioid settlement funds but said the Health and Human Services Committee still needs to review the bill further. She wants to make sure resources aren't just considered by population size but by the need.
"Especially in Washington County, we want to make sure ... that it's not just based on population — that we do have a consideration for those that are affected the most," Moore said.
"The crisis has gotten worse during the pandemic and demands immediate attention," Rep. Kathy Javner, R-Chester, said in a statement. "These settlement funds, if handled correctly, can be a real asset in mitigating the negative ripple effects of this crisis."
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey testified neither for nor against the bill in May 2021, detailing plans if LD 1722 were to become law.
This initiative hits close to home for many Mainers. Brandon Tobey, the director of operations at the new Augusta Recovery Reentry Center, was once addicted to heroin and cocaine. He also sold drugs and spent time in the Kennebec County Jail. For three and a half years, he has been clean and is working to give back to a community he once harmed.
"I couldn't look in the mirror. I did some pretty terrible things when I was on the other side of life," Tobey said.
Since work began on the ARRC in October 2021, Tobey has had a new sense of purpose. The goal at this center is to provide recovery programs for substance use disorder and reentry services for those who were previously incarcerated. Tobey said the center will have a forensic case manager available to clients for free, computers to help people create resumes and job applications, and at least four different kinds of support groups.
"That's what this recovery community is — when one person falls, we're here to lift them up," he said.
Tobey said the community has donated more than 2,000 hours of volunteering efforts and tens of thousands of dollars before the planned grand opening on March 5. Still, another fundraiser is underway to help meet the gap in funds. It's an indication this problem needs more attention statewide.
"It went from being a want, and then the outreach from the community has proven that it's a need," Tobey said. "There needs to be more spaces like this."
It's a need to which Courtney Allen, the policy director of the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project, can also attest.
"This week alone, I lost two of my friends — people I know personally that I will be attending their funerals," Allen said.
She said if LD 1722 is passed, she wants the state opioid settlement funds to be spent on four things: prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery support services. To her, the top problems right now are not having enough medical detox services and seeing too many recovery communities without an adequate amount of funding.
"No amount of money is going to rectify the harms that these companies have caused to Mainers across the state," Allen said, later adding, "I want to ensure the recovery communities that have been on the frontlines ... get a piece of this pie."
This Wednesday, Jan. 26, is the deadline for the state and political subdivisions (like municipalities, counties, and even some school boards) to agree upon how to divide up opioid settlement funds. The Office of the Maine Attorney General said if an agreement doesn't happen, our state won't qualify for the maximum amount available.
Warren said the next steps for LD 1722 will be clearer following that decision.