Strategies eyed to deal with addiction recovery

"Imagine if a serial killer came to Washington County and started bumping people off every six weeks," said Michael Crabtree, chief deputy of the Washington County Sheriff's Department.
"What kind of resources would we get to stop it?" Crabtree's question came during the wrap‑up of the "Take Back Our Community" meeting held November 5 at the Rose M. Gaffney School in Machias. Crabtree pointed out, "Washington County has led the state in per capita overdose deaths for 10 years."
The meeting was hosted jointly by community activist Brian Frutchey and Healthy Acadia. About 100 participants listened as Carol Kelley of Pivot Point Inc. described her work with the Maine Medical Association by reviewing the findings collected during 22 meetings conducted statewide by the Maine Opiate Collaborative. "This started out as a 50‑page document," she said, "but we boiled it down to this." Participants were provided with a detailed list five double‑sided pages long. "We won't get this done in a year," Kelley said. "We need to prioritize."
"We came up with a series of goals," Kelley said, "beginning with de-stigmatizing addiction." She added, "Addiction is a family health issue." Dealing with addicts in a humane manner, including by law enforcement professionals, will make it more likely those individuals will seek and accept the treatment that leads them to recovery, she said. Baileyville Police Chief Robert Fitzsimmons seconded this statement, saying that he was dismayed by the term "junkie." He said, "It's up to all of us to overcome this stigma."
Crabtree elaborated on this point during a break‑out session by explaining that addiction is not a crime and affected individuals need to be treated as if they have an illness. That does not apply, he continued, to high‑level distributors, particularly those who are not themselves users. "Some of those people don't even drink," he said. "Those are the ones we need to lock up." A few receiving 15-year sentences "will send a message to others," Crabtree said.
Detox center needed
The lack of a detox center in Washington County is a major impediment to recovery, said several people, many of whom identified themselves as recovering addicts. Bobby Kerr described himself as a "30-year heroin addict" and gave permission for the use of his name. He estimated "maybe two dozen" beds would be sufficient for in‑county demand. This was confirmed by Captain Rich Rolfe, Washington County Jail administrator. "We do what we can," said Rolfe, "but we often don't have them long enough to get the job done. We are the de facto detox center, and that's not the way it's supposed to be." Rolfe estimated "10 to 15" detox beds would be enough. Kerr pointed out that "you have to want to get cleaned up," stating that unless an addict has reached that point, "there's nothing we can do." In his case, he said he "got tired of hitting rock bottom."
"I know because I lived that life," Kerr said. "It's only going to get worse without a detox center."
Another participant rose to describe how a young relative was unable to receive help, leading to their suicide.

Changes in medical practices
Awareness within the medical field is also an issue. Kerr pointed out a friend he said was a recovering addict who "has been clean for 12 years." According to Kerr, the friend visited a dentist for an extraction, and the dentist wanted to provide methadone as a painkiller. The friend refused to accept that medication and eventually a non‑narcotic substitute was found. "They would have been right back in it," said Kerr, if the methadone had been used.
This story was brought up later in a break‑out session that discussed medical practices, where an emergency room physician pointed out that many emergency room facilities are moving towards complete avoidance of narcotic pain medication. "Patients typically know the law," he said. "Some want to come off narcotics, some don't." Several individuals spoke of medical events that led to high use of pain medication, eventually resulting in addiction. "If someone has a broken leg, chances are they need something," said the physician.

The path to recovery
Many speakers, both in the break‑out sessions and the general meeting, stressed that the path to recovery can start with a single phone call. A representative from Arise Addiction Recovery said, "If someone wants to be detoxed we drive them to Portland, no questions asked. Within 48 hours people get into Milestone." Similar comments were made by others, all offering help. According to their website, Portland‑based Milestone Foundation has the mission "to provide the best quality services to empower individuals with substance use and behavioral health disorders to attain stability, dignity, recovery and an enhanced quality of life."
The break‑out sessions covered topics ranging from education to law enforcement, and participants were urged to circulate between them. The education session focused, at least in part, on helping teachers to provide guidance starting with Pre‑K students. "Don't tell them 'don't do drugs,'" the facilitator said. "Say 'if you do this, this will be the consequence.'"
One approach was referenced several times. "Casey's Law," first enacted in Kentucky in 2004 and since adopted by several other states, permits court‑ordered involuntary commitment for addicts. A petition to create such a law has been presented to the governor in California and is being eyed by many in the addiction treatment community.
The three‑hour meeting concluded with a plea for citizen involvement, with many names being added to a large sign‑up sheet. Bobby Kerr's name was prominent on that list.