Prison Programs

Substance use disorders (SUD) are a problem in most (if not all) prisons, United States and all over the world.  In the United States alone 12 to 15% of inmates are addicted to Heroin. This is vastly different than the miniscule < 1% of the general population that has a Heroin SUD.  The problem with this number is how little treatment these people get in prison and after incarceration treatment within the community. With little treatment in prisons for SUD’s (especially heroin), a cycle of repeated incarcerations is formed, they are at heightened risk of committing suicide by overdosing and other ways, and there is a higher risk of newly released inmates to contract HIV or Hepatitis.  Buprenorphine was approved for opioid dependence treatment in the United States in the year 2002. Buprenorphine has been found to have a couple of advantages over methadone, a chemical used to treat heroin addiction.  Michael S. Gordon, Timothy W. Kinlock, Robert P. Schwartz, Terrence T. Fitzgerald, Kevin E. O’Grady and Frank J. Vocci (2014) stated in their article that buprenorphine is “…less associated stigma; lower risk of overdose…; and fewer regulations, which allow its use outside opioid treatment programs…” (p. 34). Gorden, et al., did a study to see how well this chemical (cut with naloxone) worked for inmates in a few of

Maryland’s prisons. During the study they gradualy upped how much the inmates (both male and female) took of buprenorphine/naloxone over a time period of 64 days and then after that they would take the buprenorphine/naloxone Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  During this time the participants of the study would be apart of group sessions provided by the addiction councilor on the research team’s staff. After the study was completed, the only factor they found to be significant in the study was between men and women. They found women to be more likely to complete the treatment than men. This shows how prison programs affect how inmates with SUD’s are able to transfer from prison to the outside community better. One major limitation to this study was the location of the study being only Maryland prisons, with one of their pre-approved women's pre-release prisons closing abruptly due to budget cuts.  The study contained mostly men (70% male, 30% female).  

 

Abstract

Gordon, M. S., Kinlock, T. W., Schwartz, R. P., Fitzgerald, T. T., O'Grady, K. E., & Vocci, F. J. (2014). A randomized controlled trial of prison-initiated buprenorphine: Prison outcomes and community treatment entry. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 142, 33-40.doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.05.011