🔍 A top Republican called Mills the "crack pipe candidate." Here's a closer look.
◉ After LePage revived an old detox plan and railed against Mills over the opioid crisis, Jason Savage, the executive director of the Maine Republican Party, called Mills the "crack pipe candidate" Thursday on WGAN.
◉ It was an extension of the former governor's news conference, where he spoke in front of a poster picturing "free crack pipe kits in Maine." The connection to Mills is through a state website that outlines ways to mitigate risk while using drugs. A group mentioned on the site distributes pipes to smoke drugs along with "safe-smoking kits."
◉ "It’s a clean needle when they hand it to them," Savage said. "It’s a dirty needle when it’s laying on a sidewalk in Portland and a middle schooler is stepping over it."
◉ He is referencing syringe service programs, which have long been active here but expanded under Mills. They distributed 2.7 new syringes in 2021, but they also collected 2 million and made nearly 5,500 health care referrals. A 2011 study found eight times more needles on the ground in cities without similar programs.
🌐 Bill Green meets Mills at a Lewiston environmental event today.
◉ The former host of "Bill Green's Maine" turned 2020 political heavyweight will emcee an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act.
◉ Mills will speak alongside Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline and Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque at an event organized by a coalition from the Natural Resources Council of Maine to the Associated General Contractors of Maine. |
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