Path to Recovery for Incarcerated Opioid Addicts

People who use opioids build a tolerance, meaning they require an ever-increasing dose to get the same effect. That tolerance quickly evaporates during incarceration, when people are forced off the drugs.

“They may have stopped using while incarcerated, but nothing has been done to change the pathways in the brain responsible for addiction. So when they get out, people are likely to relapse, and with their tolerance gone, they’re at high risk for overdose,” Rich explains.

Decades of research from around the globe have shown that MAT is the best path to recovery for people with opioid use disorder, whereas simple detox or “cold turkey” fails 90 percent of the time.

The MAT program implemented by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) consists of three different drug therapies. Two drugs, methadone and buprenorphine, are opioid medications that help to reduce withdrawal symptoms like drug craving. The third drug, naltrexone, blocks people from experiencing the high normally associated with opioid use. Clinical criteria are used to tailor the best treatment for each individual patient.

“While comprehensive treatment for opiate use disorders has not been the traditional role of correctional facilities, we have shown that it is feasible,” says Jennifer Clarke, an associate professor of medicine at Brown, medical programs director at RIDOC, and director of the RIDOC MAT program. “Providing treatment saves lives and helps people become productive members of society, positively engages them with their communities and families which makes for healthier and safer communities.”

CODAC Behavioral Health, a nonprofit provider of medications for addiction treatment contracted by the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC), provides treatment to the inmates. Upon release, former inmates can continue their treatment without interruption at CODAC, primary care providers, or other Centers of Excellence in MAT locations around the state. Patients also receive assistance with enrolling or re-enrolling in health insurance to make sure they are covered when they return to the community.

Read the article in its entirety from Futurity.org here: http://www.futurity.org/prison-addiction-treatment-opioids-1680382/