Gracie Johnston introduced our guest speaker, Robert MacKenzie, the Kennebunk Chief of Police, who has the distinction of also being a Rotarian and Past President of the Kennebunk Rotary Club. Chief MacKenzie spoke to us about the opioid crisis in Maine and his efforts to combat it!
But first he gave us some sobering statistics: 650,000 opioid prescriptions are dispensed daily in the U.S. and there are 52,000 deaths nationwide due to drug overdoses. Although we spend $400 billion annually to treat substance abuse, in the next decade, an additional 650,000 people will die due to opioid overdoses. In Maine, 318 died from drug overdoses in 2016 and there are an estimated 35,000 Mainers addicted to opioids.
Chief MacKenzie has formed a new committee in our Rotary district called 'Recovery Initiative.' There are 25 members on the committee — 18 of whom are Rotarians. The Recovery Initiative focuses on all the six Rotary areas of focus: Disease Prevention, Economic and Community Development, Maternal and Child Health, Clean Water and Sanitation, and Basic Education and Literacy.
The Recovery Initiative has already trained Rotarians at the Kennebunk and Saco Bay Rotary clubs to recognize drug overdose victims, provide first aid and even administer naloxone to combat the symptoms of opioid overdose. Chief Mackenzie hopes to train other Rotarians who can bring their training into the community and potentially save lives.
"Learn to Cope" is another program the Chief is hoping to bring to Maine. This program is a peer-to-peer recovery group where individuals can go online to learn what others are going through. This is a safe place to go for friendship and to obtain materials related to opioid addiction.
Chief MacKenzie wants to continue with his efforts to get Rotary involved in this issue and emphasized that opioid abuse has probably touched each of our lives in some way. He then took questions after his talk about: how to give the often lifesaving drug (Naloxone) to someone who has overdosed; whether or not Governor LePage has softened his stance on treating overdose victims with naloxone; and how doctors can help in this opioid crisis.
We are lucky to have such a dedicated law enforcement official and Rotarian working diligently to combat this crisis and it’s inspiring to see his efforts include Rotarians here in Maine.
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