CAMDEN, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Angus King hosted a panel at the Camden Opera House featuring medical professionals, employers and advocates to discuss ways to lessen the stigma surrounding Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in order to help more people decide to pursue treatment, strengthen our communities, as well as highlighting ways to help people in recovery return to the workforce. In addition to Senator King, the panel featured Dr. Roger Weiss, Chief of McLean’s Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Christine Tebaldi, PMHNP, BC, Director of McLean’s Clinical Business Development; Adriana Bobinchock, Senior Director of Deconstructing Stigma Campaign; Peter Horch, the owner of Horch Roofing in Warren, and Dr. Trip Gardner, a psychiatrist at Penobscot Community Health Care.

“Maine people struggling with addiction are not criminals – they are our friends and neighbors, many of whom have worked hard to address their Substance Use Disorder,” said Senator King. “If we’re going to truly end the opioid epidemic that has devastated our state, we need to pursue a multi-pronged approach that includes not only strengthening law enforcement efforts targeting those smuggling and dealing drugs, but also increasing support for individuals who want to seek treatment and reducing the stigma around those in recovery. Maine people with SUDs can make immense contributions to their communities if we give them the opportunity, and today’s conversation provided a roadmap for how we can open those doors: by talking to each other, sharing our experiences, and implementing best practices so that we can make sure none of our citizens are left behind.”

Senator King has made combating the opioid crisis one of his top priorities in Washington, and last month highlighted the importance of the Affordable Care Act’s protections for individuals with pre-existing conditions to those struggling with substance use disorders – which is considered a pre-existing condition, so those who seek treatment could then be denied coverage or charged exorbitant rates based on their past substance use. He has repeatedly called on Congress and both the Obama and Trump administrations to fund laws and agencies that help address the drug epidemic. Last week, Senator King met with the Assistant to the Secretary for Rural Development, Anne Hazlett, and a number of medical professionals, law enforcement officers, advocates and local leaders at a Bangor roundtable discussing the opioid epidemic’s impact on rural Maine.

Senator King has held roundtables throughout Maine -- from Portland to Bangor to Milo to Paris – and has spoken with health professionals, first responders, community members, and people in recovery to find ways to help people get better and make Maine communities safer and healthier. He has also joined a group of his Senate colleagues to write to the nation’s top health insurers urging them to do their part to combat the opioid epidemic. In an effort to hold the insurance industry accountable, the Senators asked the companies to both review their existing policies in light of the epidemic, and to take additional steps to make sure they are working actively to help curb addiction. In the FY 2018 Omnibus Federal Appropriations bill which passed in March, Senator King supported a provision which increased funding to fight the opioid and mental health crises by $3.3 billion, including an increase of $2.8 billion in treatment, prevention and research for programs within the Department of Health and Human Services. Also, in November 2017, Senator King led a letter to the Trump Administration urging additional funding for the opioid epidemic, and in October 2017 he joined with a group of colleagues to introduce the Combating the Opioid Epidemic Act, legislation that would invest $45 billion for prevention, detection, surveillance and treatment of opioids.