Sunrise Senior College Online Course Registration

Come join Gordon Smith, Director of Opioid Response for the State of Maine, as he provides Sunrise Senior College with an important update, particularly as it relates to Washington County, on the work being done with Governor Mills’ Opioid Response Strategic Action Plan that was originally presented to Sunrise Senior college in June of 2023.

When Gordon spoke with us at that time, an estimated 716 Mainers had died from drug overdoses in 2022. This year as of October 2024, Maine has had 393 deaths with 15 of those occurring in Washington County. He will discuss how this plan has made a difference in what Opioids are doing to our county and how effective the Opioid Response Strategic Action Plan has been. Attorney Smith will engage the group in an interactive session of the issues, discussing what has gone well and what remains to be done as Maine continues to work to reduce the number of drug overdoses and deaths. His responses will be tailored to issues we are facing here in Washington County. 

Presenter:  Gordon H. Smith, Esq. is the state’s Director of Opioid Response. Gordon H. Smith, Esq. was appointed by Governor Janet Mills as Director of Opioid Response in January 2019. He is responsible for coordinating and directing Maine’s response to the opioid crisis, including prescriber education and reduction of opioid prescribing, prevention and treatment of substance use disorder, and harm reduction strategies. He stepped down as the Executive Vice President (EVP) of the Maine Medical Association in January 2019, where he had served as its EVP since September 1993 and where he began as General Counsel in 1981. He graduated from the University of Maine with the highest distinction in 1973 and from the Boston College Law School, magna cum laude, in 1976. He is a past Chairman of the American Society of State Medical Association Counsel, a nationwide group of 140 attorneys representing medical associations. Mr. Smith has also served as Chairman of the American Medical Association/State Medical Society Litigation Center, the Maine Health Data Organization and the Advocacy Resource Center of the American Medical Association. He is a former board member and chair of Quality Counts, a former board member of the Daniel Hanley Center for Health Leadership, and the Maine Association of Area Agencieson Aging. Mr. Smith is a frequent lecturer to medical groups on various medical legal subjects.

Class Information:  This is a hybrid class - held in-person in UM@M’s room SCI 102 and via Zoom.         

All facilities at the University of Maine at Machias (UM@M) are fully handicap compliant.  The facilities used by Sunrise Senior College (SSC) at the college have ramps, elevators and handicap accessible bathrooms.  Our offsite functions and activities have various limitations and restrictions and may not be fully handicap accessible.  SSC will endeavor to identify limitations at these to you in advance.

                                                IMPORTANT:  See Below

This class is being offered Free and Open to the public.