Amid an overdose crisis of historic proportions, we have medications that can cut overdose deaths by up to 60%—more than half!—among folks released from prison. But they are sorely underutilized. themarshallproject.org/2021/08/10/the…
Risk of OD death is sky-high among those just released from prison. Reduced access to opioids behind bars → reduced tolerance and increased cravings. Enter methadone and buprenorphine (aka Suboxone), which maintain tolerance and eliminate cravings. themarshallproject.org/2021/08/10/the…
State prison systems are increasingly providing the meds. Still <1/2, but way more than a few years back, when you could count the # of states on one hand. The bureau of prisons, which incarcerates ~200k people in prisons across the country, should be leading the way. It isn't. 
As of July, the BOP had only 268 people on these meds: less than 2% of the >15,000 people the bureau itself estimated were eligible. In the last 2 years, they've treated about the same # of people as Maine's DOC, which incarcerates 1% as many people. themarshallproject.org/2021/08/10/the…
In 2018, the First Step Act required the BOP to expand access to these medications. The DOJ (BOP's parent agency) has been going around *threatening to sue* prisons and jails for not providing them. And yet the BOP's rollout has been...lackluster at best. themarshallproject.org/2019/01/29/whe…
It's all about stigma, Michael Botticelli, Obama's former 'drug czar,' told me: “If this were not addiction treatment, would we buy the argument that it’s just a big bureaucracy?” themarshallproject.org/2021/08/10/the…
Really grateful to work with @USATODAY on this one. Thanks Matt Doig, @ghazalairshad, @TerriTroncale, @IlicaMahajan for all your hard work on it.
It's also about prisons and jails not wanting to admit the extent to which drugs get in, Botticelli told me. "There’s a level of denial in many correctional facilities that drug use is rampant," he said. But dead bodies don't lie—& they're piling up. themarshallproject.org/2021/07/15/ins…
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