On May 8, the following headline appeared in the Bangor Daily News: “Southwest Harbor riled over drug use,” referring to one of our local fishermen who had expressed his frustration during the previous evening’s selectmen’s meeting. “I’ve had enough ‘checking it out.’,” the article quoted. “It’s time to do something about it. I don’t want to hear about an investigation. I don’t want to hear about an arrest for a pot plant. Don’t tell me they’re trying to get the big fish. I don’t believe that. … I want to know what we can do about it now!”

That same day, the following headline appeared in the Bar Harbor Times: “Greater MDI Communities for Children Group Starts,” as the article announced the formation of a Children’s Leadership Council. As stated in its Purpose Statement, the goals of the organization are “that our children will be safe, healthy, respected, and ready to succeed in school and beyond.” In addition, the article noted that the Council is an outgrowth of “… initiatives started by the Healthy Acadia Coalition and by the MDI Tomorrow Subcommittee on Youth.”

It is no accident that these two headlines should appear in our local press on the same day, for they each address the same basic concern – the health of our children. MDI Communities for Children states that “young people need safe places with structured activities during non-school hours”, and that such places can protect them “from violence and other dangerous or negative influences.” In addition, it states that our young people need “a healthy start for adulthood,” including “health education focusing on risky behaviors such as violence and alcohol, drugs and tobacco use.”

As pointed out by Irene Greene-Murphy in the Bar Harbor Times last September, although we now have more evidence than ever that addiction is a potentially treatable medical disease, stigmatization of those suffering from substance abuse and-or addiction is on the rise once again. Contrary to the sinister rhetoric expressed by some, Murphy summarized this situation quite succinctly, “addiction is a medical problem, not a moral lapse.”

Pat Farnsworth echoed these sentiments in the Bangor Daily news last February, stating “Maine is experiencing an epidemic of deaths from drug abuse – if it were afflicted with this number of deaths from something like the West Nile virus, there would be panic in the streets and demand for round-the-clock aerial spraying. Mosquitoes can be the subject of such rage; drug abuse is something else, because blame is assumed to lie with the victim.”

Last summer, we pointed out that the previous three years had provided overwhelming evidence of the increased trafficking of heroin and prescription narcotics in Hancock, Penobscot and Washington counties, along with the increased use of these drugs by adults and young people from these areas. Today as then, these drugs are very pure, very cheap, and very dangerous – as underscored by the staggering statistics on drug overdoses and fatalities in our State during the last four years. Furthermore, alcohol continues to, be the major cause of substance abuse in these three counties and frequently becomes a “gateway” to narcotic abuse or is found to be a co-addicting substance.

Now more than ever, we need comprehensive education, prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as cooperation with our law enforcement agencies as appropriate. Indeed, prosecution for breaking the law may be the necessary step leading to court-mandated treatment and rehabilitation. Until we confront these issues directly as an entire community, there is no reason to believe that they will decrease, let alone be eliminated.

As quoted by the Bangor Daily News last May, a 17-year-old Lewiston High School student stated, “If there’s going to be a party, the word spreads in school, and it’s not just heroin. You can get pretty much whatever you want.” A 15-year-old High School student added, “it’s not just the so-called freaks, stoners, or greasers … mostly, it’s kids who play sports and get honor roll grades.” Unfortunately, many of us have repeatedly heard the same comments from youngsters on MDI.

As noted in the Bangor Daily News on May 3-4, twin all-day conferences were held in Machias and Calais this Wednesday and Thursday, respectively, to discuss the drug problems in Washington County. Among the goals of each conference, at least two major issues were addressed: (1) what has been accomplished thus far in solving the drug problem? (2) what additional work is needed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the approaches taken thus far?

Isn’t it time to hold a “summit meeting” concerning similar problems on Mount Desert Island? Isn’t it time for Southwest Harbor to hold a public forum to face these issues squarely? If we don’t accept the responsibility for confronting these issues as a community, who will?

Mary Anna Fox and Dick Dimond wrote this commentary expressing the views of the board of directors of the Acadia Family Center, Southwest Harbor’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Center and the MDI Alcohol and Drug Abuse Group.