Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.
One recovery coach in Maine, whose name is Jillian, likened her own recovery from substance use disorder to walking in a field of tall grass. Walk through it enough, she said, and you've made a path, and it's easy just to keep walking down that path instead of going into a new direction. Well, that's what recovery from substance use disorder is all about. It is possible to go in a new direction.
At my Sixth Annual Opioid Summit in Auburn, I gave an update on my Administration's actions to prevent drug use and help people suffering from substance use disorder recover. At the Summit, more than a thousand organizations and health care providers, people with substance use disorder and their family members, gathered to hear the most recent news about the epidemic and to recommit to our shared efforts to address it.
I told them how last year, drug overdose deaths declined by 16 percent in Maine, the first time in five years we've recorded an annual decrease. Well, that's welcome news, but we know we can't get complacent.
Traffickers are adapting every day to evade efforts by law enforcement to stem the tide of drugs into Maine. People seeking a cure for pain, or an anesthetic for experiences that are too heavy to bear, are finding even more potent and more deadly substances - things that can worsen existing mental health problems or set off new mental health disorders.
My Administration is doing all we can, reasonably and responsibly, to stop drugs from reaching Maine; to prevent substance use disorder at an early age; to treat it when we can't prevent it; and to set people on a lifelong path to recovery--above all else, to save lives.
Over the past year, we've established prevention programs in 78 middle schools to keep young adults from starting down what can be an all too easy path of addiction.
We've been working hard to get lethal drugs off the streets, to identify new drugs like xylazine, that are leading to fatal overdoses, and to distribute overdose reversal medication like naloxone as widely as possible.
We're working with local governments to expand emergency housing to keep people off the streets and to create more permanent housing for people with chronic substance use disorder.
We're increasing access to treatment at county jails and state prisons both, and we're increasing the total number of treatment beds statewide, and launching crisis receiving centers to serve as anchors in communities for substance use disorder and mental health services. Now, I know there's a perception that there aren't enough beds available for treatment in Maine. I want to be clear: things are changing. New beds are coming online every day. Please, I encourage anyone who needs help: ask for it.
We've been adding recovery coaches and implementing recovery friendly workplaces to support the lifelong recovery of people with substance use disorder.
In the past two biennial budgets, we've invested nearly half a billion dollars in funding for mental health and substance use disorder services, in addition to the $30 million in this year's supplemental budget.
The programs I've mentioned are just some of the ways we're using that funding to address the opioid epidemic in line with the strategies of our Strategic Action Plan. Each of these strategies is a step on the path to a better future.
A future where we balance accountability with an understanding of addiction; a future with strong communities that help people, especially young people, cope with life's challenges without resorting to drugs or alcohol; and a future with a thriving economy and endless opportunities. A future where there will surely be no longer a market for those deadly substances in the state of Maine -- because we need everyone in this state to be the best person they can be.
That's the dream we share, and that's the direction we're heading in together.
The recent decline in overdose deaths in Maine is a reason to hope, but not to rest. So let's redouble our efforts to prevent addiction, to save every life, to lend our strengths to people as they start, stumble, or resume their recovery, and to bring communities across Maine together to build a brighter future for all.
This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.