Good morning from Augusta. There are two days before Gov. Janet Mills’ State of the State address.
What we’re watching today
The federal government may allow ‘safe injection sites’ that have been considered in Maine but remain controversial. In a first for the federal government, President Joe Biden’s administration told the Associated Press this week that it is “evaluating” so-called safe injection sites and talking with regulators about “appropriate guardrails.” It comes after prosecutors under former President Donald Trumpsuccessfully sued to block such a site in Philadelphia. New York City has established the first set of sites in the country.
The sites, which serves as safe havens for people to use heroin and other drugs under supervision by health professionals trained to reverse overdoses, are most common in Europe, Australia and Canada. Studies reported by NPR have shown that the sites reduce overdose deaths and help link people with substance use disorders to treatment, but some experts warn that there is not much of an evidence base to draw long-term conclusions from.
Few states have been hit harder by the opioid crisis than Maine, where overdose deaths rose to another record high in 2021. Gov. Janet Mills’ administration has embraced many harm-reduction measures, the loose umbrella of interventions that safe injection sites fall under, including one measure this year that would lift limits on syringe exchange programs.
The Mills administration has taken a dim view of safe injection sites, sending Roy McKinney, the director of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, to testify on a 2019 measure to establish some by citing federal legal issues as well as the sites indicating “a contradictory and harmful message … about the sincerity and necessity of the government’s anti-drug policies.”
Given that and the Democratic governor’s history as a prosecutor and attorney general, do not expect a 180-degree turn on the issue if the federal government allows the sites. Any change could spark further conversation about their value and change the conversation somewhat in Portland, where safe injection sites have been considered.
What we’re reading
— U.S. Sen. Susan Collins became the latest elected Republican to criticize her national party’s censure of two members sitting on a Democratic committee investigating the Capitol riots of Jan. 6, 2021. In a Monday statement, she hit the National Republican Committee’s assertion that rioters were engaged in “legitimate political discourse” as “absurd.”
— Portland became the second Maine city to ban flavored tobacco in a Monday vote. The City Council also ended a mask mandate for local businesses.
— The trade war with China has shocked a family-run wholesaler in Farmington with $300,000 in tariffs. Kemp Enterprises was told they had to pay tariffs on wooden dowels imported from China by Monday, but it does not have the money to do so. It is an example of collateral damage from the trade war begun under Trump and being continued under Biden.
— Mills rolled out child welfare reforms on Monday ahead of her spending plan rollout in the coming days. She wants to spend $8 million to hire caseworkers and start new programs to help families involved with the system as well as give the system’s watchdog more power to oversee it. The ideas are mostly borrowed from measures the Legislature is considering this year. Some lawmakers may want to be more aggressive.
— A Dixmont man who was shot and had his home blown up by police during a 2018 standoff has won a maximum settlement against the state. Lawyers for Michael Grendell sought $120 million in damages, but state law puts a $400,000 cap on lawsuits against governmental entities. Grendell, who was in a mental health crisis at the time, cut a plea deal and was sentenced to time served and probation after the incident.
The Daily Brief is written by Bangor Daily News politics editor Michael Shepherd and made possible by BDN subscribers. Enjoy unlimited access to all we have to offer by subscribing.
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