Ending Addiction Demands Real Leadership, Not Political Shows

Addiction is a national pandemic, hitting states like Maine hard. High-quality, seamless “recovery services” are – in all honesty – the only way out of darkness. Prevention and law enforcement are vital, but escaping addiction’s wilderness requires a guide – and governor-level leadership,

Missing in states like Maine is a governor-led commitment to the “get well, stay-well” plan. Conceptually, you cannot put a car on the road, a plane in the sky, or life back on track without the right parts, in the right sequence. A car or plane without wheels or assembled in the wrong order is stuck. Helping a person shed addiction is similar. Parts are vital; treatment sequence matters.

To get someone back on track, they need a team, right parts, assembled in the right sequence to restore mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical integrity. That team has to be credible and reliable.

How is this done? Someone addicted requires unblinking, full-time commitment, top-level caring. Needed are elements missing in places like Maine, starting with a state leader who is committed, a governor who measures his or her success by ending the addiction pandemic.

The process cannot be a political show, missing parts, out of sequence. It requires a governor with a personal commitment to statewide solutions. A room full of self-satisfied policy wonks fails.

In Maine, while some grants are sought, the state’s relationship with the federal government is beyond miserable. That hurts people. The number of grants pales compared to what could be done. A governor not willing to help with grant writing, endorsement, and advocacy is a failure.

Many states are afflicted, but Maine is emblematic. With 1.4 million people, 150,000 addicted, ten percent over 12, overdoses exceed 10,000, fatal 400 to 800, accidents (many tied to drugs) are the top cause of death, suicides (300 last year) second, and they have only 300 treatment beds. The answer – bluntly - is not just giving away millions of needles annually and free Narcan.

This approach has been a complete failure, and flies in the face of ending the radiating circles of heartbreak, property and personal crime, family and financial collapse, pervasive domestic abuse (including of children in foster care and women), homelessness, and chronic illness tied to drugs.

The process of reversing this slide, getting addicted souls and states out of this wilderness, darkness to light, is well known – if leaders lead. The “get well, stay well” plan involves assembling the right parts in the right order. The process requires bold leadership by a governor.

FIVE steps define the solution. If a governor will personally lead, everything can change.

First, the governor needs to coordinate all outcome-focused “recovery service” providers, faith-based, secular, for-profit and non-profit, hold regular meetings, catalogue of needs, goals, outcomes, complaints, growth potential, and all with proper oversight.

Second, the governor needs to create synergies among providers, between providers and the state, between providers, state, and federal leaders, help write and endorse federal grants, and get to DC.

Third, state resources must be seamlessly integrated across agencies, bringing together policy formulation, implementation, and outcomes that involve public safety, health care, educators, and all agencies that touch the issue. Regular, at least quarterly, meetings need to happen.

Fourth, a “get well, stay well” plan has to involve daily governor-level engagement, reinforcing the priority. All parts – private sector, state, and federal – must exist, and solutions must be sequenced.

Concretely, this means new enabling guidance for law enforcement, emergency response, jails, mental health, health care, education, and other agencies. It means federal resources for experts.

Objectives must include governor-led coordination, new authorities and funding, and alignment of mental health, addiction, and criminal justice with fresh funding streams. Narcan must be followed by detox, 3.5-level residential treatment for 60 days, 3.1-level, halfway houses, sober living, employment in a recovery-friendly state.

Today, in Maine – and elsewhere – few businesses are “recovery-friendly.” That needs to change. In Maine, only 88 businesses in 45,000 are recovery-friendly, just 20 not tied to addiction recovery.

Bottom line: There are proven, accountable ways to end this nationwide addiction pandemic, slamming states like Maine. They require governor-level leadership. If we get that, we can fix it.