Chief Bob MacKenzie of the Kennebunk Police Department will speak to the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club on Sept. 23 about the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders in Maine. Contributed photo

Chief Bob MacKenzie of the Kennebunk Police Department is scheduled to speak to the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, via Zoom.

He will address the opioid epidemic and substance use disorders in Maine.

MacKenzie, a Rotarian, chairs the Rotary District 7780 Recovery Initiative. District 7780 covers southern Maine and coastal New Hampshire.

He recently testified in front of the United States Congress H.E.L.P. Committee on the opioid epidemic and plans to speak to Rotary clubs and others across the District with the goal of educating Rotarians and community members on the crisis.

MacKenzie states, “this is a public health crisis, and we need to work together in our various communities to help save the lives of our sons/daughters, husband/wives, bothers/sisters etc.,” according to a news release from the club.

Although COVID has dominated the headlines, the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder is an epidemic and getting worse in Maine. According to MacKenzie, more Mainers died from overdoses in 2020 than from COVID.

Maine now averages 50 overdose deaths per month in 2021. Maine lost 502 citizens to overdoses this year and with that current rate of deaths, the state on track to exceed that number this year.

“Not to take away from the devastation of COVID, the opioid epidemic and substance use disorder is prevalent in our society and there are many things we as community members can do,” remarked MacKenzie. “The first step is getting educated and reducing the associated stigma.”

The meeting can be accessed by contacting George Szok at gszoksbox@gmail.com.

For more information about Rotary or the Bridgton-Lake Region Rotary Club specifically, visit lakeregionrotary.com, find the organization on Facebook, or contact Jessica Putnam at lakeregionrotary@gmail.com.