Shawn Moody remains the only Republican candidate to not state his position on naloxone. Who does he agree with? Donald Trump or Paul LePage?
Westbrook, MAINE – Yesterday, President Donald Trump announced the creation of a program aimed at providing free doses of the life-saving, anti-overdose medication naloxone to high schools, colleges, and universities – making him the latest Republican to disagree with Governor Paul LePage’s opposition to expanding access to the drug.
Governor LePage is virtually alone in his opposition to more widely distributing naloxone. While Republican governors across the country have made the medication more easily available, here in Maine, only Shawn Moody, one of five Republican gubernatorial candidates, has not spoken in support of the life-saving medication. Ken Fredette, Mary Mayhew, Mike Thibodeau, and Garrett Mason all have. Moody’s campaign is managed by the Governor’s daughter and several of LePage’s political consultants.
Maine Democratic Party Chairman Phil Bartlett issued the following statement calling on Moody to say whether or not he agreed with President Trump or Governor LePage:
“Even President Trump, one of Governor LePage’s closest allies, knows that naloxone saves lives. That shows just how wrong the governor is on this issue – and makes it even more infuriating to know that his intransigence is costing Maine people their lives.
“Only one Republican candidate for governor has refused to say where he stands on making naloxone more widely available. As the people of Maine consider who they want to be their next governor, they deserve to know whether or not Shawn Moody agrees with President Trump that naloxone should be more widely available or with Governor Lepage that it should not. It’s far past time that he step up and answer the question.”
According to a report in the Portland Press Herald, the company that produces Narcan, the trade-name for naloxone, has said that it will provide four boxes of the medication to universities and two boxes to high schools that want it, along with educational materials that discuss the dangers of opioids and the benefits of Narcan.
While President Trump is making naloxone more widely available to those below the age of 21 through this new program, Governor LePage has worked to restrict access to younger adults, refusing to approve rules allowing for the over-the-counter sale of naloxone until the age of purchase was raised from 18 to 21. Furthermore, the Bangor Daily News has also reported that Governor LePage and his Administration have found other ways to block improved access to the life-saving, anti-overdose medication naloxone.
Since Governor LePage took office in 2010, drug-related overdose deaths have spiked precipitously. But LePage – along with former DHHS Commissioner turned Republican candidate Mary Mayhew, in many cases – has worked to restrict access to evidence-based treatment options, botched a treatment program that they said would help hundreds, and have worked to prevent improving access to the lifesaving, anti-overdose medication naloxone.
Original Source: Portland Press Herald (edited by the Maine Democratic Party)
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