Drugs & Substance Abuse in Corrections - Medical Assisted Treatment (MAT)

An Overview of Medication- Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorders for Criminal Justice-Involved Individuals (2017)

There is a national opioid epidemic and one intervention to help those suffering from an opioid use disorder (OUD) is medication-assisted treatment (MAT). MAT is the use of medications in conjunction with behavioral therapy as part of a long-term treatment regimen. There are three main MAT medications used today—methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. Research has shown MAT, in particular the use of methadone or buprenorphine, is considered an evidence-based practice to treat OUD. Studies indicate those in MAT have better outcomes than those who engage in therapy alone. This article provides an overview of MAT with a focus on use with...

South Carolina prisons attempting trial run for new opioid treatment drug (2017)

COLUMBIA - Inmates suffering from addictions to heroin and prescription pain pills may soon have new treatment options in South Carolina prisons.

The S.C. Department of Corrections has launched a pilot program where the agency will administer Vivitrol - one of three federally approved treatment drugs for opioid addiction.

State Corrections Director Bryan Stirling said the agency hopes the treatment effort will help incarcerated individuals suffering from addiction while behind prison fences, and allow them to avoid heroin and pain pills once they are released.

To Grow Market Share, A Drugmaker Pitches Its Product To Judges (2017)

Philip Kirby says he first used heroin during a stint in a halfway house a few years ago, when he was 21 years old. He quickly formed a habit.

"You can't really dabble in it," he says.

Late last year, Kirby was driving with drugs and a syringe in his car when he got pulled over. He went to jail for a few months on a separate charge before entering a drug court program in Hamilton County, Ind., north of Indianapolis. But before Kirby started, he says the court pressured him to get a shot of a drug called Vivitrol...

Narcan: What Happens Next? (2017)

Using Narcan as a starting point for local and county corrections policies

Medication-assisted treatment with Narcan improves both public health and public safety. The trend towards medicationassisted treatment reduces harm, saves lives, and meets the immediate need of an individual in crisis. The question becomes: what happens next?

Narcan (naloxone) is a public health tool to help an individual to survive a period of life-threatening crisis. Narcan allows frontline law enforcement and emergency medical treatment (EMT) workers the ability to decrease the potential that someone will succumb to the potentially fatal effects of an opioid overdose. Most importantly, the public...

ONDCP Webinar: Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in Prison and Re-entry Programs (2017)

Deputy Director Leary highlights examples of MAT programs that are viable and beneficial components of prison and re-entry services.

Pharmacotherapy for opioid dependence in jails and prisons: research review update and future directions (2016)

Incarceration is a relatively common experience among the estimated 15.6 million opioid-dependent adults in the world.1 In the US, it has been estimated that between 24% and 36% of opioid-dependent adults cycle in and out of jails each year.2,3 Incarceration of these individuals often results in opioid withdrawal syndrome, which, at a minimum, should be treated humanely.1,4 Beyond safe and effective opioid withdrawal treatment, there are three major opportunities to provide effective pharmacotherapy to inmates. First, inmates receiving opioid pharmacotherapy with either opioid agonists (eg, methadone or buprenorphine) or antagonists (naltrexone) in the community could be continued on their medications...

Opioid Addiction & Corrections (2015)

Medication Assisted Treatment in the Connecticut Department of Correction PowerPoint presentation.

AATOD Fact Sheet: Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in the Justice System (2017)

Many publications over the last decade have documented the alarming increase in use and abuse of prescription opioids and heroin (Cicero, Inciardi, & Munoz, 2005; Davis, Severtson, Bucher-Bartelson, & Dart, 2014; GAO, 2009; Paulozzi, Budnitz, & Xi, 2006: Pletcher, Kertesz, Kohn, & Gonzales, 2008; Reifler, et al., 2012; Schneider, et al., 2009). This surge resulted largely from the significant increase in physician/dentist prescription of opioid medications to treat chronic pain during the 1990s, when a sizeable subset of patients became dependent on and/or addicted to the medications. A report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) cited...

How America’s prisons are fueling the opioid epidemic (2018)

Prisons aren’t linking people to adequate addiction treatment - and many are dying as a result.

Casey, who’s 36, was one of the beneficiaries of Rhode Island’s relatively new approach to treating opioid addiction in prisons and jails: It now provides the three main medications for opioid addiction to inmates within its facilities, with few strings attached. The three medications - buprenorphine, methadone, and naltrexone - are considered by experts to be the gold standard of care for opioid addiction, with studies showing that they reduce the all-cause mortality rate among opioid addiction patients by half or more and do...

Postincarceration Fatal Overdoses After Implementing Medications for Addiction Treatment in a Statewide Correctional System (2018)

As the epidemic of opioid use in the United States continues to shift from prescription opioids to illicit drugs, more people living with opioid use disorder are encountering the criminal justice system. Most US correctional facilities do not continue or initiate medications for addiction treatment (MAT). This is especially unfortunate given the higher rates of opioid overdose immediately after release from incarceration.

Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in Prison and Re-entry Programs (2017)

Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Webinar: 1 hour, 18 minutes

Deputy Director Leary highlights examples of MAT programs that are viable and beneficial components of prison and re-entry services.