San Francisco Chronicle report shows drastic increase of overdoses in California prisons


In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed legislation to drastically increase funding and staffing levels in order to deal with drug overdoses within the state prison system. Governor Newsom’s plan would create an initiative that would offer medications to treat opioid addiction for California prisoners. These medications include: buprenorphine, methadone, naloxone, and naltrexone. The Governor’s proposed treatment initiative would make California the third state in the US to provide comprehensive drug and alcohol treatment in prisons. Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the other states with comprehensive treatment programs for inmates.

Despite spending millions of dollars to restrict the flow of drugs into state prisons, the California state prison system has the highest rate of drug overdoses among any state prison system in the United States. Opioid overdoses are not only a problem that is confined to the California prison system.  Nationwide, 47,600 people died from opioid overdoses in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2019, The San Francisco Chronicle conducted research about the increase of drug and alcohol overdoses in California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) facilities. The findings by The Chronicle reveal that over the past three years overdoses in California prisons have increased 113%. In 2018, nearly 1,000 men & women in California state prisons overdosed and required emergency medical attention.  Most prisoners survived their overdoses; however, drug-related inmate deaths are increasing as well. 

In 2017, overdoses became the 4th leading cause of death among California prisoners; behind cancer, cardiovascular disease, and end-stage liver disease. In 2017, at least 750 prisoners in California overdosed, but survived with the use of medication.  However, 40 inmates in California state prisons died from overdoses in 2017.

In 2015, there were 469 inmates who received medical assistance after drug overdoses.  This number increased to 997 in 2018.

Sources:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Overdoses-in-California-prisons-up-113-in-three-13819811.php

https://www.kqed.org/news/11747654/newsoms-sweeping-plan-to-reduce-inmate-drug-overdoses-faces-pushback

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recovery Month supports addiction treatment programs and services

F or twenty-three years Americans have celebrated the month of September as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.   The purpose of Recovery month is to educate Americans about mental health services and addiction treatment programs that can help people struggling with substance abuse.   Recovery month also raises awareness about specific challenges that people in recovery face.   Although drug and alcohol addictions are complex problems with the correct treatment and support people who struggle with these addictions can recover. In a Presidential Proclamation On August 31, 2012, President Barack Obama declared September 2012 as National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.   In his proclamation Obama said: “Over the past 3 years, we have worked to strengthen substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, and to support Americans in recovery… Drug and alcohol abuse continue to take a tragic toll on millions of lives across our country.   Yet, while more remai
Read more

The Life and Art of Allan Rohan Crite

Image
The Boston Public Library was one of three locations in the city of Boston to display the art work of longtime Bostonian and artist Allan Rohan Crite. Beginning in the fall of 2007 until February 3, 2008, the BPL, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists exhibited collected works of art from Crite’s storied career in The Life and Art of Allan Rohan Crite: 1910-2007 . Funded in part by the Boston Public Library Foundation, the exhibit offered onlookers a view into Crite’s lengthy artistic career. When I visited the exhibit on January 19, 2008, over fifty collages, drawings, paintings, and sketches adorned the Wiggins Gallery in the McKim Building of The Boston Public Library. Crite was born on March 20, 1910, in Plainfield, New Jersey. In that same year, his family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. Crite would later make Boston his home as an adult. Over the course of his distinguished career he promoted visual art as a lecturer, p
Read more

Political legislation brings attention to US Dental Care Crisis

A ccording to a report created by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) there is a national crisis in American dental care.   On June 7, 2012 Cummings and Sanders – the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging, introduced legislation to address the inefficiencies in the American dental care system.   Approximately 130 million Americans do not have dental insurance.   ¼ of American adults 65 and older have lost all of their teeth.   More than 75% of American adults over 30 have gum disease.   Additionally, about 17 million low-income children do not go to the dentist every year. On June 26, 2012, PBS aired a documentary about the U.S. dental care system on the investigative news program FRONTLINE .   The 50 minute documentary, Dollars and Dentists , analyzes current economic trends and patient access in the dental care industry.   The documentary is a joint investigative piece by FRONTLINE and the Center fo
Read more