FARMINGTON – A New Sharon man has been arrested and three other people have been charged in relation to an alleged effort to bring drug contraband into Franklin County Detention Center, following an investigation by the sheriff’s office.
According to Sheriff Scott Nichols, Christopher Coulter, 41 of New Sharon, an inmate of FCDC, was arrested on two charges of violating conditions of release and one charge of trafficking in prison contraband, all Class C felonies, as well as misdemeanor criminal attempt. Coulter was in jail while awaiting trial on a domestic violence charge as part of a Maine State Police case, Nichols said Monday afternoon.
Others charged in relation to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office investigation include Anthony Ellis, 47 of New Sharon, for trafficking in prison contraband, a Class C felony; Jessica Powers, 35 of New Vineyard, for misdemeanor criminal attempt; and Forrest Greenman, 44 of Farmington, for misdemeanor unlawful possession of a scheduled drug. All three of the individuals were outside the jail, Nichols said, but are alleged to have acted as accomplices to facilitate the delivery of contraband into FCDC.
The contraband in question is alleged to be Suboxone, Nichols said. Suboxone is primarily prescribed to assist in opioid abuse recovery, but is itself an opioid and therefore addictive.
Nichols said that the investigation began last month, after FCDC Lt. John Donald, the assistant jail administrator, received information on Feb. 12 that drug contraband had been brought into the jail. FCSO Lt. David St. Laurent and Detective Stephen Charles took information Donald had collected and began investigating, conducting a number of interviews in and out of FCDC. That investigation culminated with this week’s arrests.
All four individuals charged in relation to the alleged contraband ring are scheduled to appear in court on April 24.
Good job getting that poison out of the jail, now if we could get the FDA to ban these poisons as well.
Looks really concerned, must be familiar with our court system.
Good Job, we are fortunate to have detectives like David St Laurent and Stephen Charles working here in Franklin County
Do you think any of those acronym agency’s really care what’s happening all over this country? These are the same people who brought us OxyContin and OxyCodone etc…The states should sue them and the dea for dereliction of duty causing this entire epidemic.
Local cops, firemen and emts and innocent bystanders along with the people caught up in the swirl of this toilet bowl of addiction get to suffer the consequences.
Prison contraband is common across the country and I see it on YouTube and it must stop
Looks like he’s really worried
If the jail has a job labeled ‘smile control’, I want it.
Pure,
The “epidemic” is caused by free will. People choose to take drugs for various reasons. Some abuse them…some do not. Believe it or not, those drugs you mention do help those in pain, hopefully more than you’ll ever know.
Pure I completely understand they don’t care. Yes the states and feds should sue all big pharma companies for these poisons they “manufacture” in the name of healthcare.
Terry some people do benefit from these manufactured products, but there are many many natural remedies for pain that doesn’t require taking these poisons and they are cheaper on those folks wallets.
Terry, many people get caught up in this simply by listening to their doctor and taking the meds prescribed. part of me agrees with you that many make a choice. but plenty addicts never meant to become one. Doctors need to be held accountable as well.
It is a choice, didn’t mean it to sound otherwise. The addicts have no idea what their in for, and while I have great empathy for anyone living in pain I don’t think opioids are the best idea. I’m absolutely sure patients don’t believe their addicted, neither do regular addicts- until they can’t easily acquire more.
Hopefully you Realize that I have no desire to stop you from putting whatever you want in your own body, but please be aware of what it is.
The statistics say they shipped enough oxy for every man woman and child in this country to be “pain free” for a verrrry long time. Within short order of these pills taking hold, heroine became cheaper and more pure along with now having metric tons of it flooding our shores. Now these same pharma company’s make, sell and profit from narcan. All while the fda and dea watched…Too much coincidence for me.
Hold the phone, You can’t blame the doctors. They don’t know a person’s pain tolerance, they have a stupid scale of 0-10, 0 being no pain, 10 being a lot of pain. One person’s 10 might be another person’s 7. I know people who step on tacks and wail like banshees, I also know people who can step on a tack, pull it out and keep in trucking. Myself for example, I have an extremely high pain tolerance. My 2 could be other people’s 12, Pain is a consequence of life. Some can deal with it, some people can’t. But doctors are not psychic, there is no test for pain. They have to take a person’s word for how bad it hurts and prescribe accordingly.
Jesse it can’t be the manufacturer at fault cause this is pills and the blame game only works on firearms.
A couple of points, doctors were duped by FDA and big pharma. Some doctors definitely knew and know now how opioids work and why they were long reserved for end of life type care and pain. Once introduced some people’s body’s need and craving for these drugs will never cease. There is a huge difference between Tylenol-3 and oxy…
The younger someone is prescribed an opiate, especially for pain that is never going to stop are going to have to take more and more and more just to get the same affects they got with first prescription. I’m certainly not saying people in pain just want to get high, that’s not my point at all- whatever you are using them for, pain or recreation- the addiction, tolerance and withdrawals if taken away are all the same and real pain will be thousands of times worse.
Who knew for sure how addictive these pills are and went out of their way to present falsified evidence telling doctors they were not addictive? Big pharma did. Who allowed them to run their own study’s and present that? The fda did. They were already sued by the federal government and had to pay out to continue doing just what they have been doing.
The opioid crisis all started when healthcare providers were told they must address the 5th vital sign; PAIN. Then drug companies hopped on the band wagon, developing opioid medications, and presenting huge marketing campaigns touting how they are harmless, and non-addicting. Guess again! Not only are opioids addicting, but patients develop tolerance to them, meaning the same dose will eventually no longer work, and to get the same level of pain relief they need more and more. It is a vicious cycle, ending up with horrible addiction. Now, the CDC has stepped in and said unless the patient is on palliative care or has cancer, patients should be on less than 90 morphine equivalents per day. Surgery patients should not be given more than a 7 day prescription.
I have great empathy for people with chronic pain, having suffered my fair share with arthritis, knee replacements, and the like. But, I firmly believe opioids should not be used to control chronic pain. Pain is a natural occurrence in life, and we have to find ways for people to cope, without getting them on the addict train. A study was just released that found opioids are not effective in the treatment of chronic pain.
I would like to see opioid prescribing be restricted to only those with terminal illness, or on hospice/palliative care, or for one week post-op.
I believe that the epidemic in this country was started by our government, look at crack cocaine for instance, early 80s almost off of Black America had a crack problem. Heroin, the government shipped loads of heroin from Vietnam on their own airplanes, tons and tons and tons of heroin was shipped into the USA from 67-73 . The government is poisoning our youth with these drugs. Look at the LSD project the government was behind that! Now fast forward we have narcan, the big pharmacy company’s new about narcan in 1997 , it was after that they started prescribing oxy contain to people everyone that asked got it. Now we have people attending methadone clinics on our dime for 10-12-15 years at a time, they we’re addicted to heroin for 1 year and on methadone for 14 . The system is broken, from. Social services, health care, dhhs, and our own local government it’s rigged for the rich to get richer!
To all those who want an all out ban on opiates I hope you never get bone cancer. If you did you would all beg for “poison”. These pharmaceuticals are much like anything else in this world, they are a tool.
One tool in the doctors hand bag of tools to help people with severe pain. I believe the vast majority of Doctors do take there DEA licence to prescribe medicine very, very seriously. Without that DEA
licence to prescribe all their money spent and years studying to be a doctor would be useless. I also believe that many doctors try their best to inform patients that these pharmaceuticals are very addictive
for a lot of people but most people don’t even hear that warning from there doctor, all they here is “this medicine will relieve your pain”. I’ve seen severe pain do terrible things to people. I’ve seen people in so much pain they can’t even speak, all they can say is “it hurts it hurts”. I’ve seen people in so much pain they have a seizure. I’ve seen people in so much pain they loose control of their bodily functions. I’ve also seen opiate pain relievers bring these people great relief. For those in real dire pain when given a proper dose for there tolerance they don’t even get or seem “high” they were in so much pain before the medicine that after the dose they just seem normal, maybe a bit sleepy but able to function again, walk, talk, etc. With this whole opiate problem this country is currently dealing with you cant just blame one group of people ie. pharmaceutical company’s, doctors, addicts… and there no one answer either. Heck we even tried getting the pills off the street and that just made the heroin problem worse. At least with pills people knew exactly what they were getting for a dose. The pharmaceutical company’s make it well known to doctors, pharmacists, and patients that these drugs can be addictive and are ideally are used for temporary relief of severe acute pain such as a broken bone or after a surgical procedure or for pain from an incurable disease or disorder. Addicts take a lot of flack from people saying “just get over it” or “get treatment and just quit”. It’s not always that easy. Often times treatment is to expensive and for those that have health insurance there coverage of drug addiction treatment is limited to a certain time frame and then your on your own. The time it takes to successfully quit varies from person to person often requiring in-patient treatment followed by months to years of intensive outpatient treatment as well. Still think an addict should just “get over it”? Ponder this… Almost everyone is affected by addiction in one way or another and I don’t mean that they know someone with a drug addiction. I mean that almost everyone has an addiction of some sort. For some it’s drugs, but really think about it… what might you be addicted to??? Smoking, gambling, coffee, work, cleaning, TV, gaming, working out, reading books, sex, driving fast, your pet, hoarding/collecting, texting…etc. You get the idea. Now imagine that suddenly you can’t have that thing you love so much. It’s available, you can get, it but you can’t have it again, ever. That imagined thought your having right now is just a fraction of what a recovering addict goes through on a daily basis. Also just because your addiction may be a legal one that doesn’t mean that it is not negatively your life or the lives of those around you. In summation, addiction this is a complex social and community issue that the “blame game” will not solve. It’s the elephant in the room, and we’re running out of rooms. The media is starting to normalize talking about addiction which I think is a good thing. In fact I think all local and national TV and radio stations should have a weekly show dedicated to talking about addiction, treatment, and how those around the addicted can help. We need to talk, we need to listen, we need to understand as a nation so we can come up with a plan to help this nation, and indeed the world, beat this disease called addiction before it takes someone you love.
Maine Narcotics Anonymous =
1-800-974-0062 Call their helpline and talk to a recovering addict. Visit http://www.namaine.org
Maine Statewide Crisis =
1-888-568-1112 (Voice) 711 (Maine Relay)
If you are concerned about yourself or about somebody else, call the crisis hotline. This will connect you to your closest crisis center.
Suicide Prevention =
1-888-568-1112 (Voice) (Crisis Hotline) 711 (Maine Relay)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Visit the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program at http://www.maine.gov/suicide/index.htm for more information.
2-1-1 Maine =
Dial 211 (in Maine only) – Out of state call (877)463-6207
One number – thousands of services. 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember number that connects people who want to give help or get help with a full range of health and human services in their community. Visit http://www.211maine.org
And as always, Be Kind to each other
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Kind
I agree with a lot of what you said, however the above statement is not true!
In 2007, in United States of America v. The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc., Purdue and its top executives pleaded guilty to charges that it misled doctors and patients about the addictive properties of OxyContin and misbranded the product as “abuse resistant.” Prosecutors found a “corporate culture that allowed this product to be misbranded with the intent to defraud and mislead.” Purdue Pharma paid $600 million in fines, among the largest settlements in U.S.
That was 11 years ago. A lot of the people that were commenting on the article were “living in the past” by stating how this country got into this mess in the first place by various means. That kind of commenting helps no one. It is a waste of time, in my opinion, to play the blame game. It does not mater how we got to this point, were here now in the present and presently people are dying and suffering from the addiction. So that being said we have the now and the future to contend with. I will try to remedy your concern with my post by adding a word I clearly should have put in that post ——–
“The pharmaceutical company’s (now) make it well known to doctors, pharmacists, and patients………”
Bingo all better. I’m sure most people now know or could quickly learn that semi-synthetic opiates (or Opioids as they are now known) were based on the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy plant containing the psychoactive compounds morphine, codeine, thebaine and others. Selective breeding of other poppy/opium plants can increase the levels of these and other psychoactive compounds. Isolated around 1805 Merck began marketing morphine commercially in 1827 and by 1874 Diacetylmorphine (better known as heroin) was synthesized from morphine and brought to market by Bayer in 1898. So in my mind the fact that America v. The Purdue Frederick Company, Inc. even happened is astonishing! Heroin had, at that point, been around for 133 YEARS and on the market for 109 YEARS! I guess our government hadn’t gotten the memo on that… Oh wait… The government did get the memo… Morphine became a controlled substance in the US under the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914, and possession without a prescription in the US is a criminal offense. Even with that federal narcotics act oxycodone and similar derivatives of that drug were on the market by 1916. Point being mistakes were made across the board by the government, law makers, doctors, pharmaceutical company’s, and the like. Now we’re at the 191 year point of morphine being on the market and the 120 year point of heroin being on the market. I’m pretty sure everyone knows it’s addictive and we’re ALL to blame. To quote one of my favorite movies: “In other words it’s a huge S!@# sandwich and we’re all gonna have to take a bite.”
Maine Narcotics Anonymous =
1-800-974-0062 Call their helpline and talk to a recovering addict. Visit http://www.namaine.org
Maine Statewide Crisis =
1-888-568-1112 (Voice) 711 (Maine Relay)
If you are concerned about yourself or about somebody else, call the crisis hotline. This will connect you to your closest crisis center.
Suicide Prevention =
1-888-568-1112 (Voice) (Crisis Hotline) 711 (Maine Relay)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Visit the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program at http://www.maine.gov/suicide/index.htm for more information.
2-1-1 Maine =
Dial 211 (in Maine only) – Out of state call (877)463-6207
One number – thousands of services. 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember number that connects people who want to give help or get help with a full range of health and human services in their community. Visit
http://www.211maine.org
And as always, Be Kind to each other
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Kind
11yrs is not very long, and if we don’t care to look at how we got to this point, How do we assure ourselves that we don’t come back to this same place?
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
You say that pharma makes it well known, yet 11 yrs ago they misbranded with intent to defraud and mislead.
You can find multiple sources on this but- A single pharmacy in a town of just 392 people in West Virginia received 9 million painkiller pills in two years. This was “msm news” last year.
600mill was nothing to them, cost of doing business. It’s a 14bill? Dollar per a year industry and growing.
Your own writing talks of how badly addictive it is and how it well known to be that addictive yet you also say…
Can you give me a good reason to use a highly addictive substance for temporary relief? And I’m talking about getting a prescription, not given something recovering at a hospital. People with bone cancer are not where this problem stems from.
I don’t mean any of this to sound contentious, I just feel like the people who caused this need to take bigger bites than Someone such as myself who definitely did not have any part in this mess.
The idea of “natural” is what needs to happen if you have cancer or need to be comfortable on your death bed by all means hae some morphine. If you have chronic pain do what you wish , but I will stay natural in my treatment methods. Big pharma wouldn’t hae the client base if people had a bit more tolerance for everyday living as those who cope everyday as it is. TOUGHEN UP BUTTERCUP!!!
you. are. missing. the. point.
“They” = pharmaceutical company’s, doctors, pharmacists, government…
They knew it was addictive prior to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 which is why they made morphine/heroin a controlled substance and illegal without a prescription under that act. It has been PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE since that time 104 years ago.
Other acts you can look in to that came prior to the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 are San Francisco Opium Den Ordinance, which banned dens for public smoking of opium in 1875. followed by an 1891 California law requiring that narcotics carry warning labels and that their sales be recorded in a registry. Amendments to the California Pharmacy and Poison Act in 1907 made it a crime to sell opiates without a prescription, and bans on possession of opium or opium pipes in 1909 were enacted. Yes these are opium acts but morphine and heroin are made from opium. They wouldn’t have made these acts/laws if these drugs were not addictive and potentially deadly.
“We” = consumers/general public…
WE kept the sales of prescription and black market opiates going strong regardless of the ramping up of laws, acts, and public knowledge of the dangers of opiates.
Secondly, people in this thread and others like it often only comment on how we got to this point historically. But how about some solutions and ideas to combat this problem! Often I’m only hearing the “blame game” and “finger pointing” basically a lot of yelling with very little conversation, brainstorming or creative critical thinking and it’s quite frustrating at times and kinda sad. As I’ve stated the addictive nature of these medicines have been well known for a long time. In fact opium and opium derivatives have been traced back to the ancient world estimated around 1500 BCE. Even further evidence states that “The Mediterranean region contains the earliest archeological evidence of human use; the oldest known seeds date back to more than 5000 BCE in the Neolithic age.” – [Merlin, M. D. (January 1, 2003). “Archaeological Evidence for the Tradition of Psychoactive Plant Use in the Old World”] In China, recreational use began in the 15th century, but was limited by its rarity. Opium trade became more regular by the 17th century, when it was mixed with tobacco for smoking, and addiction was FIRST recognized! The 17th century! So for me the “blame game” and “finger pointing” about how we got here to this point seems silly if “they” “we” “us” “everyone” whatever knew about the addictive property’s of opium that long ago. However I 100% agree with “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” but if we’re repeating the history lesson with no positive results than that history lesson was a waste of time because it yielded no help to the problem or the people stuck in the middle.
Third, yes there are plenty of good reasons to give someone an addictive substance to help with intense pain at home. Number 1 being minimizing the pain so less stress hormones are released by the brain and in turn the body can heal more quickly. Though I feel the length of time should be as short as possible and the dose as low as can be tolerated for that person. I think many are under the assumption that pain meds eliminate pain, this is not true in proper doses. Pain meds are a means to help the patient get “over the hump” if you will of the worst of their pain from the procedure much like a crutch helps an injured person walk short distances or a cast keeping a broken arm still while healing. I know after my back surgery, which was a short day-surgery (got there early in the am and was released in the late afternoon) I would have been bed-ridden for most likely a week or more unable to get to the bathroom or even sit up. Without that medicine it felt like someone was stabbing my lower spine with a hot ice pick no joke. Tear inducing pain. Did I get addicted? No I didn’t. Did I get addicted after having 4 teeth out to make room for braces? No I didn’t. There are many surgical procedures that are done quickly that require only a few hours of a hospital stay but require a week or more of painful recovery at home. The pros and cons are weighed by the patient and doctor on a case by case basis some chose to go home with only over the counter meds some chose an opiate pain killer. Some can handle more pain that others to.There are many options for pain relief out there but even after many years of trying to come up with something in the lab that works better than an opiate in human physiology has not happened. Unfortunately the opioid receptor in our brains also has an addiction property to it. So it’s a “double edged sword” kind of situation.
Forth, that single pharmacy in a town of just 392 people in West Virginia you spoke of is deplorable. There must have been so many people that knew what was going on and probably profited from it to. “the love of money is the root of all evil.” I hope there are better safeguards in place so that kinda of thing can’t happen again though a big city pharmacy might still be able to pull it off. But I can kinda get why they got away with it for so long, if you do the math that works out to approximately 28 pills per day per person which in it self if wayyyy to much and we don’t know what kinds and doses of the pills either.I highly doubt all of the 392 residents were users as well. However I have known addicts that were using that many pills a day and more. Some I knew were needing $100 worth of oxy per day to feel “normal” and not withdraw and $200 to $300 per day to get “high” Crazy.
Fifth, re-reading some of what I’ve posted I believe I may have come off as being slightly rude and I apologize if that was the case. It was out of frustration. I myself was addicted to a pharmaceutical class of medicine and though it was not opiates it took me through hospital stays and 3 years of trying to quit to be successful in quitting 9 years ago and have not used it since. And yes my doctor was very clear that I could become addicted. I weighed the pros and cons and determined I was so desperate to be rid of the symptoms that I’d try anything. All went well for many years then I started having side effects I didn’t like so I, with my doctors help, stated to slowly reduce the dose and every time I’d get to a certain level I’d hit a brick wall of “I can’t do this”
I like the fact that you are passionate about this issue and can tell it frustrates you too. My overall point is: this crisis has it’s been a loooooong time coming and I find it baffling that so many professionals, systems, laws, acts, checks and balances have failed this nation and many others over the long time span that this issue has been known. We’re all in a heap of doo doo and it’s not fun at all and I think we all need to take some responsibility, and yes I definitely agree some more than others.
Maine Narcotics Anonymous =
1-800-974-0062 Call their helpline and talk to a recovering addict. Visit http://www.namaine.org
Maine Statewide Crisis =
1-888-568-1112 (Voice) 711 (Maine Relay)
If you are concerned about yourself or about somebody else, call the crisis hotline. This will connect you to your closest crisis center.
Suicide Prevention =
1-888-568-1112 (Voice) (Crisis Hotline) 711 (Maine Relay)
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Visit the Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program at http://www.maine.gov/suicide/index.htm for more information.
2-1-1 Maine =
Dial 211 (in Maine only) – Out of state call (877)463-6207
One number – thousands of services. 2-1-1 is an easy-to-remember number that connects people who want to give help or get help with a full range of health and human services in their community. Visit http://www.211maine.org
And as always, Be Kind to each other
https://www.wikihow.com/Be-Kind
SC, I too see your passion about this issue and the frustration that comes with it. No, I didn’t read it as rude, I took it as frustration! No matter what it was, Congratulations on 9 years!
All addictions including caffeine and sugar are hard to overcome.
The majority of people don’t have the knowledge or insight on opium, opiates, heroin, OxyContin that you do (coincidentally I find it creepy that my phone auto capitalizes the brand name) most people have no idea there all the same thing basically, I think that maybe why you get frustrated with people, most don’t understand and have to start at the beginning and go slow, and honestly otherwise- we just keep patching a rotting foundation.
That pharmacy in West Virginia was just one of many all over the US, the LA times did a multi part story last year, it is an interesting read. This is also worth looking at if you have never seen it
My thought is not that everyone will be addicts that take this drug, there are many people who can smoke, drink, use meth, cocaine and even heroin once in a while or take a prescription and be just fine…Then there is the rest of the people who can get that “opioid receptor switch” turned on and never be the same, of course there are also people who get addicted to Pokémon! I would not tell anyone to just do without any pain medicine, just know what your taking. I understand that no one can judge another’s pain tolerance, but where does that end? IE: Why is my mental pain less than your physical pain and how can you judge that?
I think that’s a slippery slope, and IMO opioids should be reserved for end of life and or when someone is never going to be expected to stop. I just feel the risk of flipping that switch on is too great when there are other options available.
I’m actually not missing the point, I agree 100% that the government and the pharma company’s knew exactly what they were doing, I believe multiple agency’s within the government knew and were paid off. I believe a lot of doctors and pharmacist knew what was going on and either made money off it or turned a blind eye to it- I believe our MSM media failed to spread this news deliberately because again of money. The link above details how much money was made, The bonus’s paid out it is astronomical. I play the blame game because it’s part of my solution, I know I’m just a guy in the woods and that my solutions don’t matter to anyone other than me, but here it is.
Opioids only for end of life or when patient is never going to be taken off. (Outside of clinical setting)
I think there could be a new class of license for this, I don’t think doctors should have to pay for it, but would be required to hold it, for prescribing opiates. I think there should be a class taken to aquire that license that is done by someone not now or in the past employed by big pharma, I would also contract that they can never work for them in the future either.
Narcan for police, fire, EMTs
Treatment for addicts
All of this should be payed for by the company’s responsible and by cutting DEA and FDA budget if needed, in 5 years the spike in statistics would hopefully be on a downward slope. BTW- all of this is just plugging the dyke unless the DEA is on our side and curbs the flow of cheap heroin.
Keep in mind- this is how these company’s think…
“Thirty years ago…Merck’s aggressive chief executive Henry Gadsden told Fortune magazine of his distress that the company’s potential markets had been limited to sick people. Suggesting he’d rather Merck to be more like chewing gum maker Wrigleys, Gadsden said it had long been his dream to make drugs for healthy people. Because then, Merck would be able to “sell to everyone.” Three decades on, the late Henry Gadsden’s dream has come true.”
Link didn’t come through in post, here it is hopefully!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2622774/#__sec3title