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x7x_x7x
x7x, my problem child.




Registered: 05/05/07
Posts: 3,816
Loc: buenos aires
Last seen: 1 day, 5 hours
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LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state
#19035287 - 10/26/13 11:45 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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The governor hears from Maine police chiefs that they have to do much more with fewer resources.
By David Hench dhench@pressherald.com Staff Writer
WESTBROOK — Gov. Paul LePage and Public Safety Commissioner John Morris met with police chiefs and officials from throughout Maine on Friday to hear firsthand from them about the extent of the drug problem in the region.
click image to enlarge David Hench/Staff Writer click image to enlarge RELATED HEADLINES Maine police to take back unwanted prescription drugs Saturday Select images available for purchase in the Maine Today Photo Store What they learned in their closed-door meetings was, among other things, that just as society is making headway against prescription drug abuse, the problem of heroin use is growing.
“Heroin is becoming the drug of choice and it’s cheaper on the street,” LePage said during a news conference after a meeting in Westbrook.
LePage said the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, county prosecutors and the judicial system are under intense pressure, yet have inadequate staffing.
LePage and Morris said the severity of the problem shows the importance of continued funding for the MDEA, which depends heavily on federal grants, a position police officials support.
“What we heard over and over again is we’re doing so much more with so much less,” said Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck. “The resounding comments from the personnel that were present were in support of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.” Portland currently assigns a sergeant and two detectives to the intergovernmental drug task force.
Police were unable to provide statistics that accurately show the extent of the drug problem or that heroin use is increasing. Much of that is based on anecdotes from police making arrests and seizing drugs, such as the Oct. 7 arrest in Portland of four people from New York and the seizure of 125 grams of heroin and 72 grams of crack cocaine, worth about $30,000.
One measure of relative drug use comes from the Maine Office of Substance Abuse. The number of people hospitalized for treatment of heroin abuse or addiction had been steadily falling until 2010, when it stood at 1,768, according to Substance Abuse Trends in Maine 2013, issued by the Maine Office of Substance Abuse. That includes people for whom heroin use is one of two or three problems that led to a hospitalization. In the past two years, the number has climbed to 2,061.
Meanwhile, those hospitalized for prescription painkiller abuse or addiction, not including methadone, hovered at about 7,000 through 2011 before dropping to about 6,000 in 2012.
MDEA Director Roy McKinney said efforts at stopping prescription drug diversion – including by doctors – have reduced the availability of drugs such as oxycodone, driving up their prices. Heroin, meanwhile, is as cheap as it has been in years. A 30 milligram OxyContin tablet used to cost $30 and now can go for $55, he said.
Friday’s meetings between LePage and police took place as Congress tries to craft a budget that may well contain cuts in federal grants that fund many of the state’s drug agents. There is currently no money in the biennial budget to offset a cut in federal funds, officials said.
“The last thing we need to do right now is cut back on MDEA,” said LePage, who held a similar meeting in Auburn with chiefs in that area later in the day. The administration had budgeted money for this year and next to cover an expected federal cut but it was removed when this year’s federal money came through at the last minute, Morris said.
McKinney said 46 drug agents are at least partially funded by federal money. The administration worries that about $360,000 may be cut from the federal share to the state and have to be made up with state funds.
Local police officials said after the meeting in Westbrook that they were glad for the chance to meet with the governor.
“I thought it was a unique opportunity to be able to sit down with that group of law enforcement, prosecutors, the governor and his staff,” said Lt. Frank Clark of South Portland. “Not surprisingly, I think all the issues we’re experiencing in South Portland are the same as are being experienced in Portland or Gorham or Yarmouth.”
“A lot of the issues we’re dealing with relate to or boil down to drugs,” he said. “If we have 20 burglaries this month, we might find out when we arrest the people it’s due to drug addiction. There’s just a lot of that sort of behavior going on.”
Gorham Police Chief Ron Shepard said after the meeting that his town was hit with a record number of pharmacy and commercial robberies last year, an indication the drug problem is becoming more serious. Robberies are especially worrisome because the suspect may be armed and people can get hurt.
“The majority of us agreed the MDEA obviously needs more resources than what they’re currently alloted,” Shepard said.
Cmdr. Scott Pelletier, head of the MDEA in southern Maine, said that in his 27 years of law enforcement he does not recall the state’s chief executive calling a meeting of local police officials to discuss crime and enforcement strategies.
David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:
dhench@pressherald.com
http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/LePage__Drug_abuse_straining_Maine_resources.html
-------------------- cultivando en la miseria SuctoSpore® Pictorial Tek
 x7x_x7x@shroomery.org carl_jung_in_lsd@yahoo.com koh samui and oak ridge are my favourite strains
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passifloracaerulea



Registered: 11/13/10
Posts: 10,485
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Re: LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state [Re: x7x_x7x]
#19035328 - 10/26/13 11:55 AM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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please make your way in massive quantities and quality to Oregon miss heroin, I beg of you.
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KillerSpores
Grand champion of Cyrodiil



Registered: 03/29/10
Posts: 2,463
Loc: Louisiana
Last seen: 9 years, 4 months
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Quote:
passifloracaerulea said: please make your way in massive quantities and quality to Oregon miss heroin, I beg of you.
Then a year after you are knee deep in dope sickness you would have wished you never uttered those words.
-------------------- 01000110 01110101 01100011 01101011 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 00001101 00001010 Look it up.
 
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Big_Dave


Registered: 07/07/13
Posts: 393
Loc: DC burbs
Last seen: 5 months, 14 days
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Re: LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state [Re: x7x_x7x]
#19035703 - 10/26/13 01:17 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
x7x_x7x said: A 30 milligram OxyContin tablet used to cost $30 and now can go for $55, he said.
$55?? Good god man. What the fuck is going on with the world. Hope this price only applies to middle school kids that are getting robbed by the older kids. Cause that's what that sounds like... Robbery
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Chuckfinely
another round for me an my buddy

Registered: 06/27/13
Posts: 628
Last seen: 4 years, 3 months
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Re: LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state [Re: Big_Dave]
#19035852 - 10/26/13 01:55 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Big_Dave said:
Quote:
x7x_x7x said: A 30 milligram OxyContin tablet used to cost $30 and now can go for $55, he said.
$55?? Good god man. What the fuck is going on with the world. Hope this price only applies to middle school kids that are getting robbed by the older kids. Cause that's what that sounds like... Robbery
An old scool orange OC 80 would go for 100$ to anyone easy. Even when they were still being made 55$ for one was a decent price. I know more than one person who shot the same dose of oxy as they would have smack, and ended up dead two days later
IF you crush and sniff/shoot them its like heroin except is super clean pharmaceutical grade
Heroin and opiates stronger then a lite painkiller are very dangerous and should never be taken lightly
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tealeaf
Just Touch It


Registered: 09/21/06
Posts: 2,907
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Re: LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state [Re: Chuckfinely]
#19036501 - 10/26/13 04:40 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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so the war on drugs has proven to be a complete failure yet they want more funding for Maine's DEA....................mmmmmmmmmkay
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LSDreams
Contemplative Stoner



Registered: 12/05/10
Posts: 1,184
Loc: Stuck in 3rd Dimension
Last seen: 6 years, 9 months
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Quote:
passifloracaerulea said: please make your way in massive quantities and quality to Oregon miss heroin, I beg of you.
Noo... West coast has excellent cannabis and the East coast has excellent dope..
Of course I have seen some of your good shit leak over to our side recently.
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dokunai
Cactus, Cannabis, Cubensis

Registered: 01/31/10
Posts: 1,878
Loc: Hyphal Heights, USA
Last seen: 7 years, 14 days
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Re: LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state [Re: LSDreams]
#19042180 - 10/27/13 07:06 PM (10 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
What they learned in their closed-door meetings was, among other things, that just as society is making headway against prescription drug abuse, the problem of heroin use is growing.
What headway has been made against RX abuse? None. And I think we are talking about the same population changing preferences due to price and availability pressure. If BATF said the problems caused by people getting loaded off of vodka had decreased because vodka became more expensive and people switched to drinking whiskey, would that really be a good outcome? Or one that deserves more support from taxpayers?
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delwel69
Stranger


Registered: 01/27/15
Posts: 51
Last seen: 6 years, 8 months
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Re: LePage: Heroin becoming drug of choice in state [Re: dokunai]
#22167579 - 08/31/15 03:22 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Lepage wants to form a police state more cops more sea. He wants junkies to die,got a bunch of ppk of methadone myself included.he vetos giving first responders narcan,or protecting someone from legal troublke if they revive someone,yet i have narcan in case someone drops rehqb should be available regardless of insurance or financial status,heroin doesn'tdiscriminate. !!
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