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

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