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Despite a drop last year, Maine's overdose rates remain some of the highest in country. The state is drastically short on detox beds, with months-long waiting lists.

The Wabanaki Nations have been particularly hard hit by the opioid epidemic, but until recently, had few options for treatment that integrated Wabanaki and Indigenous healing practices. 

This week, Monitor reporter Emily Bader dives deep into efforts to change that, led by the nonprofit organization Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness.

“What we needed was an infrastructure. We needed services. We needed culturally appropriate, culturally centered services that incorporated our language, our history, that full understanding of who Wabanaki people are,” Lisa Sockabasin, a citizen of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Motahkomikuk, and co-CEO of WPHW told Bader.

I urge you to give it a read.

— Kate

‘Historically left out,’ a Wabanaki organization forges its own approach to addiction treatment

Recovery programs like those run by Wabanaki Public Health and Wellness have become a haven for Indigenous people looking for ‘familiarity, comfort, safety.’

Read this story by Emily Bader 

A law passed last year made assault in an emergency room a felony. Did it help curb violence? A year-old law seems to have done little to curb a surge in violence against healthcare workers that began during the pandemic, despite increasing charges for assaults on nonmedical staff – such as custodial, security or administrative workers – who are providing emergency medical care. Read this story by Alexa Foust

Offshore wind port siting raises new conflicts for coastal Mainers, environmental activists: Coastal residents concerned for both climate change and ecological preservation are conflicted over the planned location of a facility that advocates say will help launch Maine’s offshore wind industry. Read this story by Annie Ropeik (co-published with the Energy News Network and Grist)

Why transmission lines will help us fight climate change: Moving off fossil fuels will require a bigger, better electric grid. Read this story by Annie Ropeik

Maine rarely sanctions residential care facilities even after severe abuse or neglect incidents

From 2020 to 2022, Maine’s state health department cited residential care facilities for dozens of resident rights violations and hundreds of other deficiencies. But it has imposed only one fine in response.

Read this story by Rose Lundy

Know of a story that we should be digging into? Send it to our newsroom. 

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