As the opioid epidemic continues to ravage the United States for a third decade, communities look for new solutions. For the 200,000 heroin-addicted individuals who pass through correctional facilities each year, prison may be the opportunity for change.

Incarceration pauses access to illicit drugs and presents a chance for intervention. For individuals with Opioid Use Disorder (“OUD”), the most effective treatment option involves opioid agonist medication, such as methadone or buprenorphine. Allowing inmates with OUD to receive these medications while incarcerated improves outcomes for the individual inmate and yields public health benefits by reducing costs associated with poor health, disease transmission, criminality, and recidivism. Despite these significant benefits to individuals and society, most prisons do not treat inmates’ OUD with methadone or buprenorphine.

Continue reading “Barring Methadone Behind Bars: How Prisons Err When Denying Methadone Treatment to Inmates with Opioid Use Disorder” →