Maine Communities Experiencing Increase in Abuse of Drugs Intended to Treat Opiate Addictions
Portland, Maine and other communities in the area are experiencing opiate addiction as drug dealers are selling drugs intended to treat opiate addicts. Drugs such as Suboxone that are normally prescribed by federal licensed doctors who have been trained to treat addicts are now showing up in prisons and jails in the area since they are so easily smuggled in cards and manila envelopes. In Portland, many users are dissolving the pills and then injecting the Suboxone right into their veins.
When law enforcement officials seize drugs from dealers now, Suboxone tablets are turning up along with crack cocaine and oxycodone. One Portland addict now in recovery says that Suboxone was only one in a sequence of drugs he became hooked on after using heroin and then OxyContin.
Abuse of Suboxone is a special concern since the drug is meant to treat addiction rather than contribute to the problem. Typically, street users are only using it temporarily to avoid withdrawal symptoms while they wait for a stronger drug or as they wait for entry to addiction treatment programs. Maine's shortage of drug treatment programs may also be contributing to their drug abuse problem, users say.
Methadone is another replacement drug for opiate addiction that is often used for pain treatment and is a main contributor in overdose deaths. State records show there were nearly 12,000 buprenorphine patients in Maine in the last year but only about 3,000 sought counseling.