About 75 people gathered in Portland Wednesday night for a community forum focused on the opioid crisis in Maine.
Speakers from the city of Portland and area agencies addressed prevention, treatment, law enforcement and recovery aspects of the problem.
“I’m standing here as the chief of the largest municipality in the state of Maine telling you that we cannot arrest our way out of this problem, period. It’s not gonna happen,” says Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck. “As a warrior in the war on drugs — I was an agent in Maine Drug Enforcement, I ran the Cumberland County task force for Maine Drug Enforcement — I am telling you we cannot arrest our way out of this problem.”
Portland had 46 deaths due to overdoses in 2015.
Many at the event stressed the need for more detox beds, while others suggested that naloxone, a medication used to block the effects of opioid overdose, be made available over the counter.
The forum was the 11th one held in the state, which had a record 272 overdose deaths last year, the vast majority linked to heroin and prescription drugs.