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PeoPle 30 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine CourtesyChristopherpoulos W ith his dazzling grin and preppy almost Kennedy-like demeanor youd think Christopher Poulos was a role model. And he isafter a stun- ning turnaround. Today he is a third-year law student at the University of Southern Maine an advocate for criminal sentenc- ing reform and a proponent of treating sub- stance use disorder as a public health is- sue instead of a moral failure. He works in Maine and in Washington D.C. with fol- low advocates and policy makers to chal- lenge and remedy the war on drugs accom- plishments that would have seemed all but impossible in 2007 when Poulos began a three-year sentence in federal prison for fel- ony drug charges. Triumphantly his criminal record has taken a back seat to his accomplishments in the last eight yearsa possibility he believes should be open to all people dealing with substance use disorder. My past does not define who I am as a human being he explains. What I have done and what has been done to me is part of my path but not who I am. Thats why Im able to walk into these places and work with the people I work with. I reject being defined as a junkie a felon or a former addict Im a human being Im a person in long-term recovery and Im just staying on this path. His work in Maine and D.C. aims to help others in recovery stay on their paths. Beyond staggering incarceration rates for people dealing with substance use Poulos remarks that there is a severe dearth of sup- port services both for people in the prison system and those who have been released. When someone goes into a correction- al facility the idea is to correct the behavior that led them there says Poulos. There is a significant lack of services in most places when youre incarcerated and when you get out. This leads to people who give up hope and return to the behaviors that led them there. While a lack of support both within the prison system and outside it is a primary detractor to successful recovery Poulos says there is more to the issue. The collateral consequences are of- ten more severe such as not being able to rent an apartment not getting a job or in some states being unable to access public assistance with a criminal record. A lot of the work I do is to remove these barriers. It makes sense for everybody. While barriers still exist Poulos has some words of advice for people in recovery. If you want to go to college apply he says. If you want to work in government go for it and let them say no if they want to. For me its been a matter of not believing anyone who tells me I cant do something or that I cant go somewhere because of where Ive been. Instead of believing that I work to the best of my ability and show them how it can be done. Small definite concrete steps on a daily basis has been the keyI didnt wake up and come out of alcohol and drug use or federal prison to the position Im in now. Its been years of small steps every single day. Those baby steps have left big footprints. Poulos says he is seeing progress locally and nationwide in the way the justice system and government perceive and treat substance 3Chris Poulos Rising Star Portland by Jeanee DuDley work flow and that means avoiding layoffs and keeping jobs at BIW. Thats my hope. To win those contracts is going to be a chal- lenge. We will be competing against small- er yards that have been building cutters for the Coast Guard for years and thats not a line of work BIW has been in. BIW employ- ees and managers are going to have to work together in a cooperative spirit to make sure they can win that very important contract. Drawing on your Caribou experience what missed opportunities have there been for Maine as a border state with Canada How could we make more out of our geographic advantage We could do much more to collaborate with Canada on energy production. In particular off-shore wind energy where collaboration with Canadian firms might allow us to pro- duce energy together that could serve both of our countries but particularly the electricity needs of the East Coast in the United States where so much of our population lives. We havent collaborated very much with the Canadians on alternative energy and I think that offers great promise. So far it has been a missed opportunity. Its also an op- portunityforustosecurepower throughHy- dro-Quebec. Youre famous for attending every vote. Is there a perfect-attendance plaque on the wall in Caribou Have you ever skipped out of anything Did you ever cut a class in college and if so which one My parents were pretty strict about miss- ing school. They always stressed the impor- tance of it and unless you had a fever you most likely went to school in my family. In college I went to class because I found that if you went to class you didnt have to do all of the reading. Im but sure it was out of the best motivation rather than a practical re- alization. I will confess that I have left early sneaked out of the endless social events that we have here in Washington. They go on for hour after hour after hour. Many of them are interesting some of them are glamorous oc- casionally they are fun but mostly they are just too long. Who are your inspirations today I very much look up to Pope Francis and I was so thrilled to be a part of the official es- cort committee when he addressed the joint session of Congress during his trip to Wash- ington. His face radiates joy. He is so welcom- Continued on page 86 Continued on page 86 A hike to the summit of Mount Katahdin is the way Chris Poulos celebrates his birthdays since hes turned his life around.