FORT KENT, Maine — Volunteers at a substance use recovery center that opened earlier this year are working to distribute naloxone via cabinets at businesses in the St. John Valley, with the hope of preventing fatal drug overdoses.
Crystal Condo, a volunteer at 1st Mile Active Recovery, was inspired to distribute naloxone cabinets to local businesses throughout the region in an effort to prevent more overdose deaths from occurring in the area. The cabinets, attached to exterior walls of the businesses, hold three boxes of naloxone, also known by the brand name Narcan, which have two doses each. They can be accessed by anyone at any time.
Efforts like this are making a difference throughout the state. Earlier this year, Gov. Janet Mills announced a 16 percent decline in fatal drug overdoses in Maine last year. Maine was the only state in the country to have over a 15 percent decrease, and it was the first time the state saw a decrease in fatal overdoses since 2018. The Mills Administration attributed the decrease in part to increased availability of naloxone, which reverses an overdose by blocking the effects of opioids.
In that announcement, Maine Director of Opioid Response Gordon Smith said the state still has a great deal of work to do in preventing drug usage, ensuring that recovery is available for those who need it, and preventing drug-related deaths.
Between 2022 and 2023, confirmed and suspected fatal overdoses in Maine decreased from 723 to 607. In Aroostook County, that number went from 47 to 39, according to the University of Maine.
Earlier this year, Presque Isle’s Mi’kmaq Nation unveiled a naloxone vending machine, which will also freely distribute naloxone to anyone in need. Presque Isle is the only Maine city north of Portland with this type of vending machine.
Condo, who owns an insurance business in Fort Kent, said she has a personal connection to overdose victims. She lost a cousin and brother-in-law to fatal overdoses. She recently discovered that her receptionist lost loved ones who were struggling with substance use as well.
She reached out to businesses in communities throughout the area earlier this month to see if there was interest in the naloxone cabinets.
Now, there are cabinets at Allagash restaurant Two Rivers Lunch, Joe’s Convenience in St. Francis, the Bald Eagle convenience store in Eagle Lake, and at Condo’s Fort Kent business. She said they are currently in the process of reaching out to businesses in Van Buren to get a cabinet installed there as well, but have not heard back from anyone yet.
The only remaining major community in the region without naloxone is Madawaska, which Condo said should be getting a naloxone vending machine via a mental health agency soon.
At first, she was worried that people would have the mentality that the Narcan should not be free when other medications, such as insulin, are not.
“This is a fellow human being,” she said. “Why wouldn’t you want to save them?”
But she said everyone has been positive and supportive so far.
She said this would not have been possible without the help of Danielle Forino, who founded 1st Mile Active Recovery. Forino was instrumental in obtaining the Narcan for the cabinets.
Forino said she recently held a training session for naloxone in Saint Francis, and that using the medication is fairly simple. It is inserted into the nose, and one pump is one dose. The medicine then blocks opioid receptor activity, counteracting the effects of the drug. Because of this, it only works for stopping an opioid overdose, not with other types of drugs.
And the recovery center can obtain naloxone for free via state funding, Forino said.
The Fort Kent center has seven volunteers, all of which have recovery coach training. Forino said they have written letters of intent for state grant funding to operate the center. If accepted, they would not receive funding until July of next year.
Considering that they don’t yet have any state financial support, Forino said everything is going well at the center.
“Most of us work full-time jobs, so we’re manning this center. We have new people stop in, and we have regulars. We have our community meal on Friday that typically has a good turnout,” Forino said.
The center also has several peer-led support groups. They recently held a music festival in Fort Kent, which saw about 300 attendees. She said they hope to make this an annual event.
If they receive funding, Forino said they would like to hire a full-time employee to oversee operations at the center. She said she has met volunteers who would do well in a career in recovery.
“They belong in this field,” she said. “They’re in recovery, and they’re doing well. And these are the people that can relate to the members that come in. Their life experience goes a long way.”
Forino said they hope to continue working with and supporting Fort Kent and surrounding communities. Condo and Forino both hope that the distribution of naloxone throughout the region will help more people in the community avoid otherwise preventable fatal overdoses.
“I would love to see it save somebody’s life,” Condo said, “but just knowing that these communities have 24/7 access. They don’t have to knock on a stranger’s door. They can go right to the cabinet and get it out when they need, with no questions asked.”
