Sessions to bring classic failed drug war approach to Maine opiod problem

Maine Beacon - Attorney General Jeff Sessions visited the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland on Friday to lay out President Donald Trump’s comprehensive opioid crisis plan. The plan, which relies overwhelmingly on a law enforcement approach to preventing overdose deaths, has come under fire from Maine health policy experts and political leaders.

This prosecution-heavy approach to the crisis stands in stark contrast to the recommendations made last year by Trump’s own opioid crisis and drug addiction commission, which cited a lack of access to care and a fear of shame and discrimination as the primary obstacles for those wanting treatment.

“The Trump administration’s enforcement-focused approach is not only utilizing, but ramping up, the same failed strategy that the U.S. has employed for the last 100 years and expecting different results,” said Kenney Miller, executive director of the Health Equity Alliance in Maine. “The punitive approach to substance use and the criminalization of drugs has lead to nothing but pain and misery.”