Experts: Video shows state of addiction in Maine

PORTLAND (WGME) – The state of addiction in Maine is rearing its head on social media, after a new video appears to show a man shooting up in downtown Portland.

The video may not be suitable for all viewers, but addiction experts say it gives a raw look at what's actually happening on the streets of Portland, and shows more needs to be done to help those struggling with addiction.

While we don't know what lead up to the video, or exactly what was in the needle the man stuck in his neck, we do know it's revealing.

"The video is a heart wrenching reminder of the opioid crisis," Donna Yellen of the Preble Street Resource Center said.

"I don't think people like to look at that way all the time, I think it is a little easier to just drive past, but it's there, it's what hundreds, if not thousands of our local population are dealing with," Nathan Cermelj of Liberty Bay Recovery said.

It all happened on Oxford Street, near the Preble Street Resource Center.

The man even used the side mirror of a Portland police cruiser to watch himself put the needle in.

"It speaks to how desperate and ill people are, how far along they are in this disease," Yellen said.

"I've seen it down there but to see it on a smart phone and to see it in action where I'm not the only one who saw it, it's thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands and where it travels too," Cermelj said.

It shows a side of Portland many don't often see.

"To not know the community we live in, and that's what we're dealing with on a daily basis, I think is going to keep a lot of us in the dark," Cermelj said.

The man who shot the video didn't want to speak on camera, but says he just wants the man at the center of it to get help.

"We worry about him too, and we hope that he is seeking treatment and help," Yellen said.

Something experts says many on these streets need, but don't know how to get.

"We have to do more than we're doing now, we have to reach out people who are struggling with it," Yellen said.

CBS 13 reached out to Portland police Monday about the video and to ask about what resources they're devoting to the Bayside community.

They told us they had "no comment."