Maine recovery advocates dismayed after drug decriminalization bill turned into study

During an often-emotional meeting Thursday in which some onlookers shed tears, the Health and Human Services Committee significantly pared back an effort to decriminalize drugs, recommending that the Legislature study the issue instead. 

The decision was criticized by the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project, which emphasized that many hundreds of Mainers are dying each year from overdoses and argued that a study is not going to save the lives being lost now. Last year, 607 people died from drug overdoses, which the recovery community has argued shows that Maine’s current approach to addressing substance use isn’t working. 

As originally proposed, LD 1975 would have decriminalized personal possession of illicit drugs and established at least one center in each county to provide urgent 24/7 services for those having a substance use or mental health crisis. Proponents argued that instead of criminalizing drugs — which results in people being imprisoned and makes it harder for them to access treatment — the state should view addiction as a public health issue.

However, Gov. Janet Mills’ administration opposed the original version of LD 1975. As a result, advocates and the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Lydia Crafts (D-Newcastle), revised the bill earlier this month, proposing to raise the threshold for felony drug possession charges and reducing the number of proposed crisis receiving centers.

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But neither of those versions were taken up by the Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday. Instead, committee chair Rep. Michele Meyer (D-Eliot) introduced an amendment to replace the bill with a study. The amended version was approved by the committee unanimously. 

The taskforce conducting the study would consist of members of the Legislature, representatives from state agencies, prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys, multiple members of law enforcement, a civil rights group, and a member of the recovery community. During the hearing, Crafts asked for more than one person from the recovery community to be included and expressed concern that law enforcement was too heavily represented. 

The group would be tasked with examining multiple aspects of decriminalization, including actions taken by other states, scholarly research, the impact of decriminalization on public health and safety, and its effect on access to treatment. A final report would be due by Nov. 6, and the bill authorizes the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee and the Health and Human Services Committee to recommend legislation based on the study. 

However, in an interview after the advance of the amended bill, Courtney Gary-Allen, organizing director of the Maine Recovery Advocacy Project, said she views the study as an ineffective use of time and a distraction from actions that could save people’s lives in the near-term. 

She said instead of studying decriminalization, resources would be better spent establishing overdose prevention centers — sites where people can administer previously obtained drugs under medical supervision as a way to prevent overdoses. Mills signed a bill last year to study the use of such centers. 

“People are dying right now and overdose prevention centers provide people with an opportunity to save lives in the moment,” she said. “At the end of the day, I just want to be done with this conversation about decriminalization, and a study just continues that conversation through the summer and I just think there’s more important things ahead of us to have debates about.” 

Gary-Allen also referenced the fallout in Oregon, which decriminalized personal possession of illicit substances in 2020 but is now rolling back the reform amid a spike in overdose deaths, although researchers have found that the 2020 law has not caused the rise in fatalities. That situation makes decriminalization a difficult sell right now, she said. 

LD 1975 isn’t the first time decriminalization has been brought before the Legislature. A previous attempt at the policy reform failed in 2021 amid opposition from Mills, many Republicans and some legislative Democrats. 

The governor expressed qualms about the policy this time around, as well. Earlier this year, Mills’ director of opioid response, Gordon Smith, told the Health and Human Services Committee that, “At a time when … street drugs are the most lethal they have ever been,” decriminalization is not something Mills can support.

Mills’ office did not respond to an immediate request for comment. 

Despite the results of Thursday’s vote, Crafts said she still views decriminalization as an important goal that would allow the state to better address the number of overdose deaths. 

“I continue to stand very firmly behind my initial proposal and I think it is important that the work we’re doing as a state continue to be framed through a public health lens,” she said.

In remarks prior to the vote, Rep. Anne Graham (D-North Yarmouth), a member of the committee, acknowledged the frustrations of some in the committee room. But she argued that through the study, lawmakers are moving forward on addressing the substance use crisis.

“We heard you … we are committed to making a difference,” she said. “I know these are small steps and I know you wanted to do a lot more, but the commitment is there.”

Another member of the committee, Rep. Colleen Madigan (D-Waterville), noted that she would have supported Craft’s original bill. And she reminded her fellow committee members that the stakes around the issue are extremely high.

“I see you and I know that that darkness is hard to carry,” she said, referencing the many overdose deaths Maine has experienced. “And my hope is that this commission takes that darkness and does something quickly with it. Because if not, more people will die.”