Nar-Anon launched in Rockland Midcoast support group welcomes families, friends of drug addicts

ROCKLAND – Drug addiction isn’t a problem for the addict only. Families and friends suffer, too.

In reading court news and observing their church and community, an Owls Head couple concluded that drug addiction is spreading rapidly across midcoast Maine.

They decided to do something about it.

Frederick Newcomb III and Jane Newcomb will open the first Nar-Anon support group for families and friends of narcotics addicts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, at Rockland Public Library.

The meetings will be held weekly at the same location and times.

“It’s really self-running once it gets going,” Jane Newcomb said earlier this week.

She is an education technician at Thomaston Grammar School, where she works with special needs pupils. She has also served on the SAD 5 board of directors. With her college degree in rehabilitation, she has worked in detoxification and in the mental health field.

“We both knew we have a problem with substance abuse in our area,” Frederick Newcomb said. “We felt somebody should be doing something to deal with it.” Newcomb has been practicing law here for 26 years.

While the Rockland group is new to the midcoast, the effort is not new. A Nar-Anon group began meeting in Ellsworth on Sept. 11.

“When we went out to the Web site, there was nothing in Maine,” Alicia Card, one of the Ellsworth group’s organizers, said Thursday. “We couldn’t believe there was nothing in Maine yet, given the increase in opiate addiction.”

In Ellsworth, meetings are held at 6 p.m. Sundays at Maine Coast Memorial Hospital.

Card stressed that the meetings are anonymous, free and, although spiritual, nondenominational.

In its third week, the meetings “haven’t taken off yet,” she said. “Our hope is that the family members will realize there is a place for them.”

Frederick Newcomb said substance abuse “has a lot of tentacles,” he said.

Feeling they were not qualified to start a narcotics anonymous group, the Newcombs decided to help provide support for families and friends of drug addicts.

The heartaches and worries brought on by the drug addiction of a loved one can be overwhelming, Jane Newcomb said, adding, “I have a heart for that situation.”

Nar-Anon is similar to Al-Anon, she said, which is the support group for people dealing with someone’s alcoholism. “They use similar literature,” she said, and the familiar Twelve-Step Program.

Initially, the Newcombs started the program in their church – Owls Head Baptist Church – but decided they needed a “more neutral setting,” Frederick Newcomb said.

Jane Newcomb said there is “no judgment” at the meetings. The only reason the program exists is to help others.

“It’s confidential,” she said, and “it’s free.”

While setting up the program, Newcomb said, they have received inquiries about the soon-to-open meetings from people in Bangor and Portland. “We hope this group will spawn [more] groups in the area. Anyone from anywhere is welcome.”

Is Nar-Anon right for you?

A sampling of questions to determine if the program might help are:

. Do you find yourself making excuses, lying or covering up for your child, spouse, relative or friend?

. Are you unable to discuss the situation with friends or relatives because of embarrassment?

. Do you overcompensate and try not to make waves?

. To learn about Nar-Anon, visit its Web site at www.nar-anon.org.