Maine's Opioid Epidemic

Today Maine Representatives Chellie Pingree and Jared Golden joined over 60 fellow lawmakers in urging Democratic House leadership to make opioid response a top priority of the 116th Congress.  “With a Democratic majority in the House once again, we are not short on important issues that deserve our attention after being been neglected for too long. But we can’t afford… Read more »

“The LePage Administration’s continued attempts to veto Maine voters is cruel and costly. ..." Read more »

Calls designation an important step, but that follow up action from the President is needed. Read more »

PORTLAND, ME—Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and several of her House colleagues have sent a letter to President Trump calling on him to address the opioid epidemic raging in their states. The letter comes after the President’s Commission on Combatting Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis missed two self-imposed deadlines then finally released its initial findings. The… Read more »

“I appreciate that Secretary Price has come to Maine to learn more about our state’s devastating opioid epidemic. ... “But I’m deeply troubled with how the Trump Administration has proposed slashing federal programs that offer assistance for both the law enforcement and public health aspects of the crisis. ..." Read more »

Today, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree joined her House colleagues in voting for a $1.17 trillion bipartisan spending bill which will fund the government through September 2017. In House negotiations, Pingree strongly advocated for several key programs to be funded in the final bill. Some of the programs that are of particular importance to Maine include: $3 billion for Community… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today held a roundtable at the Capitol in Augusta to discuss ties between federal funding and the condition of Maine’s public health infrastructure.  In light of potential funding cuts from a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Pingree heard from organizations in Maine about the importance of continued federal support. She also heard about… Read more »

After a tour and roundtable at Portland Recovery Community Center today, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree said the stories she heard of Mainers in substance use recovery speak to the need for greater access to treatment options and follow-up support in Maine.   “As we continue to lose record numbers of Mainers to overdose, today’s roundtable was an important chance for… Read more »

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree today voted in support of the 21st Century Cures Act. The legislation dedicates $1 billion over two years to help states battle opioid addiction and $4.8 billion over 10 years for medical research initiatives. It also streamlines the FDA approval process, makes key mental health reforms, and contains tick-borne disease provisions Pingree advocated… Read more »

Highlights need for increasing federal funding to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic in Maine and across the country Read more »