Substance Abuse report card released

    The Maine Substance Abuse Services Commission has released the first ever Substance Abuse Services Report Card modeled after a 2006 report, “Blueprint for the States: Policies to Improve the Ways States Organize and Deliver Alcohol and Drug Prevention and Treatment”, published by Join Together, a program of the Boston University School of Public Health.     Members of the Aroostook Substance Abuse Prevention (ASAP) Coalition are hopeful that this report will serve as a benchmark to move the state closer to a comprehensive system for the continuum of substance abuse services and the infrastructure that supports their work.
    Since 2007, ASAP Coalition and its members have implemented research-based prevention strategies in Aroostook County. Prevention efforts have focused on decreasing underage drinking and the access to prescription drugs for purposes of abuse. The outcome of ASAP’s alcohol prevention strategies has included a decrease in teen underage drinking from 30 percent in 2006 to 26 percent in 2009. ASAP’s Diversion Alert Program, which provides information to doctors about individuals arrested for prescription drug abuse and diversion, has resulted in 53 percent of participating health care providers stopping prescribing controlled substances to a patient who was abusing a prescription and 38 percent stopping prescribing controlled substances to a patient who was selling their prescription.
    The Blueprint Project is chaired by former Governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis. On the release of the Maine Report Card, Dukakis praised Maine’s efforts by saying, “Maine has done what we hope all states will do — embrace the Blueprint’s recommendations with a solid action program to deal effectively with the substance abuse problems that are the largest drivers of state government costs and ruined lives. I hope the leadership provided by the Governor and people of Maine will inspire elected officials and citizen leaders in other states to follow this example.”
    David Rosenbloom, director of Join Together, remarked, “Maine is providing national leadership to identify and reduce the huge financial and human burden of untreated addiction. Maine and other state governments now spend more than 13 percent of their annual budgets cleaning up the mess caused by alcohol, drug and tobacco addiction and misuse. Many of these costs are hidden from view in Medicaid, criminal justice, and social welfare budgets that do not show the true cause of the expenses. The Maine Report Card brings these costs into the open so the Governor, Legislature and the public can address them in a comprehensive way.”
    Maine’s report card has four categories: Leadership/Structure and Sustainability; Resources; Legislative Initiatives; and Measurement and Accountability. Maine received a C in all categories with the exception of Measurement and Accountability where it earned a B.
    Some recommendations for improving the grade include: increase alcohol tax and use a percentage of the funds for treatment and prevention; when drafting legislation consider the unintended consequences such as youth access to alcohol and more availability to alcohol; ensure that substance abuse is seen as a public health issue and that all agencies and organizations that are impacted, such as the Departments of Correction, Education and Public Safety, are engaged in a statewide strategy to address the challenges; and· increase access to treatment through insurance coverage and assess all levels of care.
    These grades are a tool to help the state move forward. A key facet of prevention is fostering communities that provide a firm foundation for children to grow into responsible youth who will make healthy choices. As such, it is essential for adults to be aware of the messages we send to our youth in the actions we model for them on a daily basis. Moreover, businesses must be aware of how advertising impacts youth alcohol, prescription drug and other substance use.
    The total estimated cost of providing treatment in Maine in 2005, based on reported annual revenue, was $25.2 million. Ruth Blauer, executive director, Maine Association of Substance Abuse Programs (MASAP), noted that, “While access to addictions treatment has increased, Maine’s challenges continue. There are gaps in services based on geography, appropriate level of care, limited adolescent and medication assisted services. The adoption of the Report Card is an important step in building government, legislative and community awareness that Maine’s system for addressing substance abuse and addictions prevention, treatment and recovery services is in need of improvement, and that improvement will yield statewide benefits for individuals, families, and communities.”
    Clare Desrosiers, ASAP Coalition project director, also stated that, “Prevention efforts in Aroostook County are currently solely grant funded. ASAP is working to develop a financial base that can support ongoing efforts once grant funding has ceased, but we will need community support for planned fundraising efforts as well as support of state policy initiatives which will provide ongoing funding for prevention.”
    A copy of the report can be found at http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/osa/about/sascblueprint.htm
    ASAP Coalition is an organization which consists of 12 member agencies: Aroostook Chiefs of Police, Aroostook Mental Health Center, Aroostook Teen Leadership Camp, Cary Medical Center, CADET, Community Voices, Healthy Aroostook, Life By Design, Link for Hope Coalition, Power of Prevention, UMPI and WAGM-TV. Each member agency contributes its time and talents to reducing substance abuse and its costs in Aroostook County.
    MASAP is a non-profit membership organization recognized state-wide and nationally as the voice of substance abuse and addictions in Maine.