Student Seeks Information About Maine

I am writing to you as a part of a class project for the novel “The Watsons Go To Birmingham.” My classmates and I are contacting local newspapers across the country in a state we chose to learn more about. I want to learn more about Maine. I have only been to the the East Coast, including Maine, one time. While my family and I were there, we stayed in Winter Harbor, and visited Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We traveled to the top of Cadillac Mountain, and took the ferry over to Isle au Haut. I can officially say that I have been on all three parts of Acadia National Park.

I am writing to ask your readers to please write back and tell me why they like Maine, interesting facts about the state, and what are some other things that people can do there. They can write to my school’s address above. If they could include a copy of the newspaper where they saw my letter, I’d greatly appreciate it. If you have any questions, please contact my teacher’s email at [email protected] or you may contact her by phone at (574) 255-0392 ext. 123. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Brady Ornat,

Queen of Peace Catholic

School Mishawaka, Indiana

Fund Opioid Task Force’s Recommendations

In December, a bipartisan report was released by the Opioid Task Force containing urgent prevention, harm reduction and treatment interventions to address the opioid crisis in Maine. Our current legislature can pass and fund important legislation that would reduce overdose deaths.

Four hundred eighteen are too many deaths, too many families suffering when there are solutions at hand. Our Legislature needs to stop posturing, put party politics aside and prioritize saving lives. Money is allocated to the dismal failure known as “the war on drugs,” a war on the sick and addicted. They do not benefit from being imprisoned where there are even fewer resources to treat addiction. An 85 percent increase in arrests is indicative of how many people are affected by this crisis that we could stop with proper treatment.

Meanwhile, a hidden epidemic is racing through our state — Hepatitis C. It is hitting our young people at four times the rate of the US. LD 1707 would fund syringe exchange programs that help to halt this scourge killing those suffering from addiction. This doesn’t encourage drug use, it decreases an opportunity for additional health risks while bringing those addicted into the healthcare arena, possibly resulting in treatment and recovery.

Our state has funds, but they aren’t being spent! Of the $4.8 million allocated in 2017 for uninsured and MaineCare recipients to access “opioid health homes,” less than $13,000 has been spent serving only five uninsured residents. Less than $100,000 has been appropriated for increased access to naloxone, the safe, lifesaving antidote that can almost instantly save an overdosed victim’s life.

We need to stop the rhetoric, spend the money to stop these deaths now. Call your legislators today and tell them you want action and votes to pass and fund the recommendations of the Opioid Task Force.

Diane Dicranian,

Bath,

New England Yearly Meeting of Quakers Representative to

Maine Council of Churches