Before his death at a local jail, Billy Tucker had big dreams

In March, the Maine Center for Economic Policy and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine published a report that made the case for decriminalizing the use and possession of drugs. A bill that would have done so failed to pass the Maine Legislature in 2021, but the report recommended pursuing that strategy and also investing federal and state funding in community programs. In one part of the report, the authors argued that incarcerated people are not able to access the full range of treatment options and community supports necessary to find recovery.

Click here to read the full story, first published June 19, 2022 in the Portland Press Herald.