Drug Treatment Necessary in U.S. Prisons
The U.S. Prison system is teeming with drug addicts. Almost a quarter of a million inmates are addicted to heroin, and for inmates released back into the community there is a heightened risk of getting involved in drugs. Though the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend treatment programs be accessible to inmates, there are many facilities that do not offer these options.
A report issued by The Mirian Hospital, Brown University and the affiliated Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights indicates that only half of all federal and state prison systems offer opiate replacement therapy (ORT).
ORT has been shown to have extensive social, medical and economic benefits, using the medications methadone and buprenorphine to assist the addict in withdrawing from heroin or an opiate. Prisons that utilize the drugs to help their inmates do so only in very limited circumstances.
The study’s findings are published in the online journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Lead author Amy Nunn, ScD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She explains that not only is the use of medications to treat opiate dependence proven and cost-effective, but it also reduces the effects of drug-related disease and lowers reincarceration rates.
Nunn says that benefits extend beyond the prison doors, reducing both taxpayer burden and re-incarceration rates. However, the treatment strategy remains largely under-utilized in the U.S. prison systems.
Senior author Josiah Rich, MD, MPH, who is co-director of the Center for Prison Health and Human Rights at The Miriam Hospital and Alpert Medical School, explains that opiate addiction causes significant changes in the brain and requires treatment including pharmacological solutions. Rich says that there is a large gap between the number of prisoners who require treatment and those who receive it.
More than half of the 10 million inmates in the U.S. have a history of illegal substance use, of which over 200,000 struggle with a heroin addiction. Those with drug addictions have a higher rate of mental illness and heroin use is associated with higher rates of HIV/AIDS.
The use of methadone is recommended for helping inmates overcome a heroin addiction because it has been shown to be highly effective. It counteracts withdrawal symptoms and cravings while blocking euphoric effects of other opiates. It is also successful at reducing the risk of relapse.
The report highlights the need for medication-based treatment for drug addiction within the U.S. prison system. Utilizing these types of treatment programs benefit not only the inmate, but improves the health of the prison community and prevents both relapse and re-incarceration.
