The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com.
Robert W. Glover is an associate professor of political science and honors at the University of Maine. Karyn Sporer is an associate professor and chair of sociology at the University of Maine. These are their views and do not express those of the University of Maine System or the University of Maine. They are co-leaders and members of the Maine chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network, which brings together scholars across the country to address public challenges and their policy implications. Members’ columns appear in the BDN every other week.
In the last 10 years, drug overdose fatalities have more than tripled in the United States.
Maine has been particularly hard hit, with the eighth highest overdose rate in the nation, losing 716 Mainers to overdose last year. Each death represents the heartrending loss of a family member, a friend, or a neighbor.
In a tightly knit state like Maine, it’s nearly impossible to find someone whose life has not been upended by substance use disorder, overdose, or a fatality related to illicit drugs. Yet our recent research shows that the scope of the crisis is dramatically changing Mainers’ perspectives on how to solve it.
We started researching this issue four years ago, as a diverse coalition of groups across the state collaborated on broad-ranging policy suggestions, a holistic model of “compassionate care and radical humanism.” The coalition presented 18 evidence-based policy recommendations across five areas: primary prevention; harm reduction; treatment and care; support for those in recovery; criminal justice reform; and reducing stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs.
The ensuing years have seen notable policy achievements in these areas: increased access to opioid reversal medication and safe injection supplies, the strongest “Good Samaritan” protections in the country, increased funding for harm reduction, and more. Yet ambitious proposals such as decriminalization of drug possession for personal use and the establishment of “safer consumption sites” remain aspirational.
As researchers, we wanted to gauge Mainers’ support for these proposed reforms and we conducted a statewide survey. There were partisan divides, and Democrats tended to support non-punitive reform more than Republicans. But our survey data suggested that a majority of Mainers support numerous evidence-based policy reforms rooted in public health, not punishment. For example, nearly 74% of survey respondents supported decriminalization of drugs for personal use (including 61% of Republican respondents).
Beyond just “taking the temperature” of the state, we wanted to find out why and how policy attitudes were shifting. We examined factors likely to lead to one to support drug policy reform. Three findings stood out.
First, while political party matters, it’s not the whole story. Typically in research on drug policy attitudes, political affiliation can tell us a lot about the measures you might support. It mattered here as well, but less than other key factors.
Second, exposure to substance use impacts attitudes on policy solutions more than one’s political party. Mainers possessing lived experience with substance use disorder, either personally or seeing someone they know struggle, tend to be less supportive of criminal punishment and enforcement.
Lastly, notions of “superiority” matter most of all. Basically, if you view the world with a sense that some individuals are superior and some are inferior, you’re more likely to support drug policy focused on criminal enforcement. This factor actually had the strongest impact on attitudes.
But the survey results suggest that fewer Mainers think this way when it comes to substance use. We recognize that people with substance use disorder may be struggling, but this doesn’t make them lesser humans, or undeserving of care and compassion. This is similar to the changes we have seen in other countries prior to embarking on major reform.
Policymakers often miscalculate the public popularity of enforcement-oriented, punitive approaches to dealing with illicit drug use (and criminal justice policy generally). Frequently, we hear the sentiment that “Mainers just aren’t ready” for shifts to these non-punitive approaches, even from sympathetic lawmakers.
Our results suggest quite the opposite. A majority of Mainers are ready for evidence-based alternatives rooted in harm reduction, decriminalization, and robust investment in public health. Further, as Maine’s crisis continues, those numbers will only grow as more of our loved ones and community members struggle with substance use or die preventable deaths.
