Crime is hard to parse, statistics are easy to manipulate, but facts are stubborn. Drug crime is tied to violence. Fully 26 of the 30 top murder cities are run by Democrats. Red counties have lower murder rates than blue. Whether blue or red, some policies just fail, while others work.
Some blue states keep failing, and Maine is one. Today, 31 percent of young Mainers, 18 to 25, use illegal drugs at least monthly, twice the national average. Hundreds die every year – fentanyl, meth, and cocaine. Why is Maine so hard hit? What policies let this happen? Here are a dozen.
First, Maine’s law enforcement community – local, state, and federal – are underappreciated by the Democrat Governor. They are thrown sops, but undercut, underfunded, and demoralized.
At this year’s Law Enforcement Memorial Week, Maine’s Democrat Governor barely paid attention to the fallen, her Attorney General – suing oil companies – wanted off the stage, and ignored them.
As a Portland officer confided, they are down 35 officers, rest of the state is worse. Gone is recruiting, retention, and laterals. Why? “No one wants to be a police officer in Maine.” Failed Governor.
Locally, law enforcement is squeezed by state mandates on towns, schools, and prisons, so property taxes are exploding, and local police are being cut or eliminated. That, too, is on Maine’s failed Governor.
Maine’s Democrat legislature, meanwhile, just threatened local officers with punishment if they cooperate with ICE, so illegals have the run of the place. That too – is on Maine’s Governor.
Second, effective treatment facilities are underfunded or non-existent, state money is going to repeat resuscitations (250,000 Narcan units annually), and failed needle-give-away programs that promote addiction. That is not treatment; it does not produce restored health. All on the Governor.
Meanwhile, people walking dogs, kids walking to school, and runners have to watch for needles, because Democrats ignore public safety. Maine fluctuates between 315 and 445 residential treatment beds for 1.4 million – absurd.
Prevention – reducing use, addiction, overdoses – is only in 120 of Maine’s 710 schools, one in six. Why? Same indifferent Governor.
Third, Maine’s Democrat Attorney General is more interested in redesigning his office or suing oil companies than cocaine and meth cases, even set by law enforcement. Why? A Governor who denies her own highly suspected cocaine use and – a family profiting from Chinese grow houses.
Fourth, parents, teachers, and civic leaders are misled by official silence, non-discussion of fatal drug prevalence, and traffickers are all over the State. “All it takes for evil to prevail…” – Burke’s words? – “is for good people to do nothing.” Leaders are also educators, as well as being enforcers.
Fifth, international Drug Trafficking Organizations (DTOs) are everywhere, creating a kind of horrifying open season on kids, those who only want guidance, protection, and help. That is a sin. Who is responsible? That same indifferent party and the Governor. Not using power wisely is wrong.
Sixth, State Police patrols are widely underfunded, in the north at levels not increased since 1977, and they are forced by bureaucratic and political overregulation to stand down in key places.
Seventh, local law enforcement feels abandoned, undermanned, underequipped, and underpaid, is vanishing. Growing up in Maine, all municipalities had law enforcement, now no longer so.
Eighth, even when solutions exist, they look away. State cooperation with Federal law enforcement is there for the asking, but no appeals for DOJ money, ONDCP “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Designations.” They just whistle by the graveyard.
Ninth, deliberate support – open, strong, vocal moral support by a Governor for law enforcement, encouraging everyone to respect police, working on why and how to do that – boosts public safety and health, empowers people to become what they should be. This Governor does none of that.
Tenth, Democrat leaders seem to now favor criminals, indulge traffickers, appease and excuse, and work to get felons out, end parole, reduce sentences for everything, not deter, and advance health.
Eleventh, public education about the life-and-death danger behind drug use, addiction, and overdoses is totally missing, almost non-existent. Parents, kids, and teachers do not know what they are dealing with – until it is too late. That is on this state’s self-absorbed Democrat leaders.
Twelfth? There is a profound crisis of caring, a strange willingness to let ideology overtake heart, until these people “normalize” a culture of drug deaths. That must be reversed. As Governor, I will reverse all of this – fast. Blue states can be remade as responsible if they are turned red.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. Robert Charles has also just released an uplifting new book, “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024).
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