Download Episode 054
You ever hear a story about something and it just makes your blood boil? Well that's what happened to me before this episode of SHHRP. I decided to rant about it for a while at the top of the show. Now I've decided to rant about it further here, for all to see.
Paul LePage may well be the worlds biggest dick. That would be fine, if he weren't the Governor of the great state of Maine.
His role as executive of a US state comes with a responsibility, not just to the constitution of said state, but to the people, the human beings who call Maine home. Contrary to what LePage may believe, some of those citizens are addicts. Gov. LePage believes that an addict's life is meaningless. That it should be sped up so that the inevitable death-by-overdose can come more quickly and quietly, as to not bother those who arrogantly blind themselves to the reality of American life. Addiction, specifically to Heroin, is a very real, very big problem in the United States today.
If someone you knew was dying of a Heroin overdose and you had the chance to save their life, would you just let them die?
That is why his veto explanation, which discards the lives of the addicted, is beyond the now standard "Shit LePage says" that we have grown used to. Here is why he vetoed the bi-partisan, overwhelmingly popular Narcan Bill:
“Naloxone (Narcan) does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose -- Creating a situation where an addict has a heroin needle in one hand and a shot of naloxone in the other produces a sense of normalcy and security around heroin use that serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction.”
Paul LePage, you sir, are a heartless, ignorant buffoon.
He goes on to state that the opioid addiction problems facing Maine are the result of "drug traffickers from other states bringing heroin over the border. Also nonsense. The heroin problem we are facing in the US, is the result of the incredibly easy access to prescription opioid pain medication and the lower street cost of heroin versus the pharmaceuticals.
Making Narcan available to the loved ones of the opioid addicted or to the addicted individual themselves WILL save lives. Similar legislation exists in many other states. My personal opinion about Naloxone saving the life of an addict in overdose is simple; the terror one experiences during and after an overdose can, and often does, change a person. It can be the catalyst to recovery. Though the fear of death may not deter many drug users, the shock of
nearly dying can and does.
There is a much bigger conversation to be had here. Treatment vs incarceration, the stigma of drug addiction, the accessibility of care. All things politicians like LePage ignore. We don't turn our backs on the sick and dying of Cancer, Heart Disease, Alzheimers or Diabetes. We treat them, and yet, millions of them still die every year. In Gov. LePage's twisted universe, a heroin addict doesn't even deserve a shot.
To veto this bill for the reasons LePage has given is like standing by to watch a child drown while you've got a ring buoy in your hand. Why? Because, how many times did I tell that kid, "don't run by the pool?"
-Your SHHRP Host
