On Friday, Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed LD 1364 into law, officially establishing a working group to study the potential effectiveness of “Harm Reduction Health Centers,” also known as “safe consumption sites,” as a solution to Maine’s opioid overdose death crisis.
Originally, LD 1364 would have authorized municipalities to open facilities, referred to as “Harm Reduction Health Centers,” wherein individuals can use previously obtained illicit drugs under medical supervision without fear of arrest.
[RELATED: Maine Bill Would Allow Hard Drug Use at “Safe Consumption Sites”]
After this version of the bill was rejected by the Senate in a 16-18 roll call vote, Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), who supported the bill, motioned for the Senate to consider an amendment replacing LD 1364 with a resolution.
This resolution, which Gov. Mills just signed into law, directs the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future to “convene a working group to study methods of preventing opioid overdose deaths by authorizing harm reduction health centers.”
The working group will consist, at a minimum, of representatives of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Public Safety, “an organization that advocates for persons with substance use disorder,” and the “recovery treatment community,” as well as a “municipal representative,” a medical professional, and a “person who has experienced substance use disorder.”
The working group is charged with “evaluat[ing] options for, identify[ing] barriers to and develop[ing] findings and recommendations regarding the prevention of opioid overdose deaths by authorizing harm reduction health centers in the State.”
By February 15, 2024, the working group will need to produce a report detailing its findings and recommendations, as well as any proposed legislation.
Nationwide, the state of Rhode Island and a handful of cities have legalized the establishment of similar sites.
Maine currently allows for municipal-level Syringe Service Programs (SSPs), wherein drug users can turn in their used syringes and receive new ones free of charge. The exchange requirement was temporarily lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic and some municipalities have yet to restore it.
Fifteen such programs operate across twelve cities, including Portland, Augusta, Waterville, Bangor, Ellsworth, Sanford, Calais, Lewiston, Rumford, Caribou, Deer Isle, and Machias.
Across these fifteen programs last year, more than 2.3 million syringes were distributed to drug users throughout the state.
From 2021 to 2022, the number of people enrolled in SSPs increased from 5,403 to 6,718, representing the biggest single-year increase in the last ten years.
Maine’s overdose deaths have been steadily increasing in recent years, prompting many to refer to the situation as a crisis.
In 2022, there were 716 suspected or confirmed drug overdose deaths in Maine, compared to 636 in 2021 and 504 in 2020.
Read the Full Resolve Here
Read the Full 2022 Syringe Service Program Annual Report
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2 Comments
for crying out loud. another $15000 for a study group. chump change. a study group that will be straight,, right down the middle, won’t cherry pick data, and find the honest answer. COW PIES! czarina mills and the demoKKKrats will do exactly what they want F.U. to the rest of the state or the taxpayer, and the G.D. reDUMBlicans will help.
Given that the current free needle exchange programs are in the cities that have failed to make a dent in drug use deaths, why does anyone think this “working group” will develop an effective policy? And many thanks to fake republican Rick Bennett for giving Herr Mills the opportunity to create this working group. It is heavily staffed on the side of the state run departments and light on local officials, medical staff and those with real-life addiction issues who are closest to the problem. So it will produce more government propaganda and add to the bloated, feckless political class in Augusta. Business as usual and another waste of taxpayer money.