Obama administration unveils $1.1 billion proposal to combat heroin crisis

On Tuesday, the Obama administration disclosed a $1.1 billion proposal to fight the heroin crisis, which includes $970 million dedicated to substance abuse treatment.

According to the White House, Maine may benefit more than other states because the funding formula would be weighted in a way, favoring rural states and the ones more affected by the crisis.

Though the proposal has to be approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, the funding may help hundreds or even thousands of Mainers, who presently have been facing difficulty in finding treatment. At the national level, the program may provide funding over two years for the treatment of nearly 150,000 to 200,000 addicts.

Peter Wohl, owner of Behavioral Health Resources, a Portland substance abuse treatment center, said, “This is a great first step. We need something to stop the bleeding. This would help us get people who are doing deadly drugs off the streets and into a clinical setting where they can be helped”.

Wohl was impressed that the Obama proposal is devoted mainly on funding medication-assisted treatment, like methadone and Suboxone, because research has shown that such methods are the most effective.

Sanford Police Chief Thomas Connolly Jr. has written a 35-page booklet on the heroin crisis. Connolly Jr. said that the proposal is a breakthrough as it supports science-based treatments. Connolly added that what bothers him is the fact that governments have been wasting funds on abstinence-based treatment programs that don’t work satisfactory.

Connolly said that at last there is a proposal, specifically stating that opiate addiction treatment must be medication-based, which means proof-based.

While speaking to the Portland Press Herald in a phone interview, Sen. Angus King, a Maine independent, said that the White House’s robust response to the crisis has encouraged him. And he mentioned that the initiative would be the first important new federal spending on treatment.