Maine AG’s ‘Dose of Reality’ campaign hits home

I just finished reading a Portland Press Herald article and watching the three public service spots that are part of the newly launched educational campaign from the Maine Attorney General’s Office, called “A Dose Reality.” They are accurate and powerful.

Prescription opioid painkillers such as Vicodin, Oxycontin, Percocet and many other narcotics are highly addictive, and easy to misuse and even overdose on. The three public service videos all target teens and young adults, and they demonstrate how easily a life can be hijacked by addiction or lost through overdose.

The three TV spots depict scenes that should give anyone pause: A mother finding an unresponsive son, a girl slumped over at a party, a teammate passing a painkiller to an injured friend. The Dose of Reality website has information about the dangers of painkillers, the safe acquisition, safe handling and the proper disposal of these substances.

“Prescription drugs have killed more than a thousand Mainers in the last ten years and addiction has devastated many, many more lives,” said Attorney General Janet Mills. “Nearly four out of five people arrested for heroin possession say they began by abusing painkillers. Too many Mainers are misusing, abusing and dying from painkillers, heroin, and other narcotics.”

The TV spots will run on Maine television stations over the coming months. The spots can be viewed on the website as well. Mills expressed her gratitude to the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel for making this material available to Maine.

The opioid crisis in Maine impacts us all. I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to watch the public service spots and go to the website. What you learn just might save a life.