Drug-addiction meeting

If residents of Bangor are going to make progress in understanding the local drug-addiction problem and the possibility of methadone as a treatment, then progress can begin tomorrow. The public meeting scheduled for Wednesday is among the first significant signs that Bangor can pull together on this issue.

For a lot of reasons that now should be considered history by both city and Eastern Maine Healthcare officials, public discussion on the state Mental Health Department’s plan to place a methadone maintenance program in Bangor had gotten off to a disastrous beginning. It has taken several more weeks to clear up misconceptions between the city and Acadia Hospital, which would operate the program. Fortunately, enough people on both sides seem willing to move forward with a badly needed discussion of the issue.

Like the information session last week, this meeting depends on the public being open-minded; the purpose of the meeting is not to debate the use of methadone but to gather questions from the public to help shape the direction of a study committee that would work through the fall on a wide range of issues around the region’s problems with drug addiction. Both the state Mental Health Department and the federal Drug Enforcement Agency have agreed to suspend Acadia’s license application to give residents an opportunity to understand what a methadone program is, how it fits into a larger narcotics treatment program and further into a communitywide response to drug addiction.

The place for continued public involvement will be in the coming months, when the study group formed by the city and hospital look in depth at the range of questions surrounding heroin and other opiate abuse, including the particular problem of illegally distributed prescription drugs. The task force is expected to hold regular meetings to hear what experts in medical research, education, law enforcement and rehabilitation have to say about effective means for eliminating drug abuse and helping the addicted to regain control of their lives. Even without the application for a methadone treatment program, the need for such meetings are becoming increasingly obvious as the first bits of research are being done on the extent of the region’s problem.

For instance, the number of Mainers treated for opiate abuse increased 32 percent between 1998 and ’99, according to the Office of Substance Abuse. It is on pace to increase another 48 percent this year. The problem is not only or even primarily heroin abuse, although that is a serious situation. At least as large is the illegal trade in prescription opiates. More than a half million painkillers are properly prescribed each year in this area, even a small percentage of them misdirected results in a huge problem for law enforcement. Stopping this will require the coordinated work of doctors, hospitals, police and the courts.

Before Bangor can dig further into these problems, however, it needs to collect public concerns and get the study group going. Tomorrow’s meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Bangor Civic Center. Anyone with questions is urged to attend.