Maine has a serious drug problem. And it is a complex problem, with no singular cause, no simple solution. To seriously address this growing problem, we need to encourage an open and honest examination of contributing factors, failures and missed opportunities throughout the state. By doing so, we will be able to identify actions for drug prevention, more effective delivery of treatment programs, and real support to keep addicts on the right path after recovery.

It all starts by recognizing that a war on drugs is not a solution. Our drug problem is a public health crisis whose causes take on many different human dimensions. The solutions will need to be just as multidimensional.

Too much reliance on prosecuting addicts alone is merely a way to ensure that Maine’s serious drug problem persists while jails overflow and the cost in public dollars, ruined lives, and troubled communities remain far too high. That said, we need to make sure our neighborhoods are safe and free from drug dealers and drug houses. And to that end the legislature funded four new MDEA agents, two new Assistant Attorney General drug prosecutors, 10 new Assistant District Attorney positions, two new judges and two new clerks — most of what the governor requested. But our efforts cannot stop there.

People have addictions because they try drugs for one reason or another, and the addictive effect of the drug alters their priority of needs. The reasons people turn to drugs are as varied as the problems in people’s lives, as the social forces in people’s lives, and as the physical or mental suffering in people’s lives.

Prevention: In addition to prosecuting drug dealers, we need to take steps to create a culture that prevents people from turning to drug use before we can truly eradicate it from our communities. If we don’t eliminate demand, there will always be new drug dealers.

One good step would be to reinstate school health coordinators in our schools. School health coordinators were defunded by DHHS in 2012, yet had proven success through building relationships with students and creating a culture of making healthy decisions and influencing student habits. Reducing drug use among our children and teenagers is key toward ensuring less demand for drugs and healthier communities.

Additionally, Maine needs to expand access to mental health treatment and access to health care coverage, improve veterans services, and reduce prescription reliance on opioids for pain treatment.

Treatment: Realizing that we cannot fully prevent the use of drugs in our state, and prevention won't help those who are already addicts now, we also must take a serious approach to improving treatment services. Treatment programs should be as accessible as the clinics, churches and watering holes in our community. Many of the costs involved could be covered through Medicaid expansion in Maine. Successful treatment can also occur because of alternative sentencing in our courts. For drug related crimes that are not violent, the drug and co-occurring disorders program which has been very successfully piloted in Augusta gives people a choice of court monitored treatment and counseling and staying straight or doing the jail time. And that is one success we are working to expand. By just throwing an addict in jail, we do not get to the root of the problem, and we are not treating the illness or it's root cause, so it will likely just happen again. Treatment programs in jails should be strengthened to treat more of the whole person and their outside social influences, mental illness, or other factors leading to drug use, not just the medical needs of their addiction.

Support: If we are going to seriously address the problem of drug use and addiction in Maine, we need to be serious about keeping people who are recovered addicts on the right path. Our vision and commitment has to be for the long term to see this through. I am troubled by the short-sightedness of a recent decision at DHHS where they just decided to eliminate drug abuse treatment groups. The spokesman for DHHS said there was no longer a need for the service. How can this be when our state is facing a growing drug abuse epidemic? Again, if we are going to truly be serious about overcoming drug use in Maine, we need to be there with the support to keep people off drugs.

On August 26th, the Governor will convene a summit on the growing problem of drug use in Maine. I hope that all interested stakeholders — from the federal, state, and local government and agencies, veterans and veterans services, mental health professionals, addicts in treatment and addicts in recovery, and a wide range of medical and drug treatment program professionals — are all around the table. An open and collaborative effort to find solutions will put Maine on the right path for ridding our communities, homes, streets, and schools of drug abuse.

The BDN is correct — more people living in treatment for addiction, or living as recovered addicts should share what works and doesn’t from their individual experiences. Solutions simple enough to fit in a policy sound-bite won’t make much headway by themselves. I hope that the outcomes of this summit include greater awareness and commitments to make progress on each of the influences and dimensions of this problem.