The state of Maine has experienced a growing problem with drug addiction that has prompted Governor Paul LePage to say a wide variety of absurd things over the past two years. As you probably recall, Governor LePage recently blamed the state's problems on drug dealers named "G-Money" and "Shifty" who travel to Maine from other states and "impregnate" all the white girls.
Governor LePage has gone out of his way to make the situation worse. He has opposed the state legislature's effort to increase funding for drug-treatment programs, instead preferring harsh law enforcement, and now he has vetoed a bill that would increase access to life-saving anti-overdose medication.
Both Republicans and Democrats in the legislature passed the bill unanimously with no dissent, but LePage says the bill would simply delay addicts' deaths.
But in his veto letter sent to lawmakers on Wednesday, LePage said the bill would allow pharmacists “to dispense naloxone to practically anyone who asks for it.”
“Naloxone does not truly save lives; it merely extends them until the next overdose,” LePage wrote, repeating a contention that has caused controversy before. “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.”
There is always a chance that delaying their death or 'extending' their lives for a period of time will give them an opportunity to seek treatment or allow for an intervention of some sort, but Governor LePage isn't interested in that. After all, he's also opposed to increasing access to drug treatment programs.
Governor LePage doesn't want drug addicts to receive treatment or even live, at least for a little while longer. He wants them in jail or dead.
Paul LePage is the embarrassment that keeps on embarrassing.