On Aug. 21, from 5 to 6 p.m., the Boothbay Region Community Resource Council (BRCRC) and the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club (BHYC), will be jointly hosting a community wide seminar entitled “The Opioid Addiction Crisis on the Boothbay Peninsula.” The meeting will take place at the Yacht Club at 156 Western Ave., Boothbay Harbor.

All local and summer residents are invited to participate in a conversation with Boothbay Harbor Chief of Police Bob Hasch and Addiction Outreach Program Coordinator Holly Stover about the work they are doing in the Boothbay region to address opiate addiction in our local area. We have a limited number of seats available. To reserve your space, please call the BHYC, weekdays, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 633-5750.

Opioid addiction, overdose and death have become a national epidemic. We are not isolated from the devastating effects of this problem in Maine. Between 2011 and 2014, heroin-related deaths in the state of Maine increased from 7 to 57, over 714 percent. In the first six months of 2015 alone, 37 people died from heroin/fentanyl overdoses. Chief Hasch says his department and Lincoln County Sheriff Todd Brackett are dealing with the effects of heroin addiction “on a daily basis” as part of their law enforcement duties. Those individuals struggling with addiction often cannot support their drug habits without committing burglaries of homes, vehicles, and town businesses.

The traditional protocol for communities dealing with drug addiction and crime has focused on arresting addicts and prosecuting them criminally, thus “taking them off the street.” Unfortunately, given the high rate of recidivism, this historical approach, which is reactive and not proactive, does not create long-term solutions for the individuals suffering from addiction nor the towns in which they live. We need to find solutions which help intervene with the causes of addiction, seek medical treatment for addicted individuals, and provide a community-wide set of resources for those in recovery. This will allow them to integrate into local society in a way that helps them become self-sustaining successful members of their families and neighborhoods.

In the summer of 2016, in response to the sharp increases in the number of opiate related overdoses and deaths on the Boothbay peninsula, Hasch convened a group of concerned members of the community who were willing to help. Through these efforts, the Addiction Outreach Program of the Boothbay Region Community Resource Council (BRCRC) was formed to provide a process to supply information, support and referral for individuals and families seeking treatment and recovery services. Many people in the area, both longtime and summer residents, generously contributed financial support to allow the BRCRC start a three-year pilot program to assist with the opioid addiction crisis. We raised enough funds to hire a caring and experienced Addiction Outreach Specialist. Holly Stover, who had worked with Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services for 23 years, assumed the position in October. She works closely with the Boothbay Harbor Police Department and offers support to local law enforcement that have been on the front lines dealing with the opioid epidemic for some time. The community response to the position has been very positive and we are making a difference by offering hope to those who have been rendered hopeless because of their addiction.

Since September 2016, we have had contact with over 100 individuals through the Addiction Outreach Program. This far exceeds what was anticipated and we are pleased with the response. We have an active engagement with the recovery community and have had volunteers from the recovery community sit with us when we engage people who are contemplating treatment or are new in recovery.

The outcomes for the Addiction Outreach Program are:

1). To improve access to outpatient and inpatient treatment services for addiction;

2). To improve short and long-term recovery through the provision of Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT).

3). To provide support services needed to people in recovery upon returning to work.

4). To reduce the number of opiate related overdoses and deaths in the community.

We invite everyone who lives in the region to come to this seminar and learn how the opioid addiction problem is affecting our neighborhoods and the efforts being made to help these individuals recover, gets jobs and become reintegrated into our community.