Senator Collins Visits Opioid Treatment Center in Portland

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Portland, ME – Today, U.S. Senator Susan Collins visited Milestone Recovery in Portland to meet with members of the organization’s leadership and tour the facility, including their detox program and emergency homeless shelter.

“The heroin and opioid abuse epidemic is a nationwide crisis devastating far too many families and communities in Maine and across the country,” said Senator Collins. “It was a pleasure to meet with members of Milestone Recovery’s leadership today to learn more about their efforts to help individuals break the cycle of addiction.  Organizations like Milestone Recovery are making significant strides in combatting this health crisis, and their work brings hope, recovery, and healing to those struggling with substance abuse.”

“Milestone was pleased to host a visit by Senator Collins at our Portland facility,” said Bob Fowler, executive director of Milestone.  “We are appreciative of the senator’s leadership on issues related to addiction and the opioid epidemic, and we shared with her the work that happens at Milestone.”

Founded in 1967, Milestone Recovery is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide the best quality services to empower individuals with substance use and behavioral health disorders to attain stability, dignity, recovery, and an enhanced quality of life.  They offer emergency shelter, medically managed detoxification, and long-term treatment in Portland and Old Orchard Beach.

Last week, two bipartisan proposals authored by Senator Collins to address the opioid crisis were included as part of comprehensive legislation that was advanced by the Senate Health Committee.  Senator Collins’ provisions would help ensure that unused prescription drugs can be properly disposed so that they do not fall into the wrong hands and provide funding and resources to bolster peer support networks for long-term recovery.

In 2017, there were a record 418 deaths from drug overdose in Maine, an 11 percent increase compared to the year before, and nearly 1,000 babies are born each year addicted to opioids and other drugs in Maine alone.  Nationally, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016.