As the United States continues to grapple with an opioid overdose crisis, it’s imperative that policymakers recognize that enforcement-led approaches have long failed to reduce illicit drug use or associated crime. Drug offenses are the most common reason for arrest in the United States, accounting for nearly 14 percent of all arrests in 2015. And it is estimated that nearly two thirds of people serving sentences meet criteria for drug dependence or abuse. But enforcement-led approaches to drug use have failed to meet their intended goals and in fact have contributed to mass incarceration and exacerbated racial disparities in the justice system.
There is increasing momentum, however, for a smarter, more effective, and more compassionate approach to people who use drugs that is grounded in evidence. Some innovative jurisdictions are implementing harm reduction strategies such as alternatives to incarceration, medication assisted treatment, and overdose prevention and naloxone distribution. Read more about the work being done to embrace public health approaches to drug use that have the potential to reduce overdose deaths, improve the wellbeing of justice system-involved people, and advance the health and safety of communities.
Experts
New York State Must Take Action to Reduce Opioid Overuse Deaths
Legislation currently being proposed in New York State—S2161/A833A—would change that, requiring prisons and jails across the state to provide MAT to people who are incarcerated. MAT, specifically methadone and buprenorphine, is the gold standard of care and can save countless lives. If enacted S2161/A833A and three other bills that are pending now— ...
Blog Post
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Lauren Jones
For many people living with an opioid use disorder, the most dangerous time is the first two weeks after they return home from jail or prison. New York State must take action to reduce opioid overuse deaths.
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Up Close with the Opioid Crisis
Officer Nicole Moyer of the Burlington Police Department opens up about working on the front lines of the opioid crisis.
Officer Nicole Moyer of the Burlington Police Department opens up about working on the front lines of the opioid crisis.
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David and Goliath
A Small City Police Department Takes Aim at a Monster Epidemic
Police and community come together to address the opioid crisis in Burlington, Vermont.
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Corrections-Based Responses to the Opioid Epidemic
Lessons from New York State's Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution Program
As the opioid crisis has swept the nation, more and more states are equipping their first responders and police officers with naloxone, an overdose antidote that reverses opioid overdoses and can be administered by bystanders with minimal training. This report details the efforts of New York State to implement an overdose education and naloxone dis ...
This report details the efforts of New York State to implement an overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) program to one particularly vulnerable population—people who have been recently released from incarceration in state prison.
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Rhode Island Tackles Opioid Addiction Behind Bars; Saves Lives Outside
A new study featured in JAMA Psychiatry found that an innovative program in Rhode Island prisons reduced post-incarceration overdose deaths, highlighting the role that U.S. correctional facilities can play in combating the current opioid crisis. While justice-involved individuals live with disproportionately high rates of substance use disorders, t ...
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Jackson Beck
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Vedan Anthony-North
The Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) acted on the growing evidence supporting medication-assisted treatment or MAT and launched a new screening and treatment model in its jails and prisons.
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The Role of Jails in Combatting the Opioid Crisis
Despite a proven evidence base and increasing calls from the President’s Commission on Combatting Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis to incorporate MAT into criminal justice settings, there remains reticence on the part of many jails to adopt MAT. National survey data suggest that utilization of these medications is very low in criminal justice s ...
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Leah Pope
The gap between the health needs of people in jail and the services jails provide is glaringly evident when thinking about how jails are responding to the current opioid crisis. According to surveys conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of people in jail meet criteria for drug dependence or abuse.
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Minimizing Harm
Public Health and Justice System Responses to Drug Use and the Opioid Crisis
For the Record Evidence Brief SeriesHow government and communities should respond to drug use is a perennial question that has gained a renewed sense of urgency in the face of the current opioid overdose crisis, and annual deaths from overdose have grown more than ninefold since 1980. In addition to the thousands of lives claimed, thousands more Am ...
This brief discusses the two leading approaches to drug use in America—treatment, prevention, and harm reduction on one hand; and enforcement of drug laws and incarceration of drug users on the other.
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A Path to Recovery
Treating Opioid Use in West Virginia's Criminal Justice System
In the United States, a disproportionate number of people who come into contact with the criminal justice system suffer from opioid use disorder. Key to confronting the opioid epidemic and related deaths is expanding access to a range of treatment options, including all forms of medication-assisted treatment (MAT). This report looks at how one stat ...
West Virginia is confronting the opioid epidemic and related deaths by expanding access to a range of treatment options, including all forms of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) to eligible people in its criminal justice system
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To End Opioid Crisis, We Must Rely on More than "Just Say No"
Proven, evidence-based treatment for addiction—and strategies such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT)—can significantly reduce deaths, especially when they are available at various stages of the justice system. MAT programs use medication (methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone) in addition to counseling and behavioral therapy to treat substa ...
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Hayne Yoon
West Virginia, which leads the nation in opioid use and overdose deaths, is both an epicenter of the opioid crisis and a promising case study of how the justice system can improve its response.
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New White House Report Outlines Recommendations to Stem the Tide of Drug Overdose Deaths
The commission also focuses on law enforcement’s ability to prevent overdoses and save lives by urging the president to provide legislation for states to allow dispensing naloxone via standing orders. Naloxone is a life-saving drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, is non-addictive, and has no effect if a person does not have opioids ...
Blog Post
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Vedan Anthony-North
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Leah Pope
The importance of harm reduction strategies, such as medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and naloxone distribution, have been shown to reduce the negative consequences of drug use, including social isolation, incarceration, overdose, and death.
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With Public Support, States Continue to Embrace Drug Reform—and Save Lives
New reporting from the New York Times yesterday estimates that more than 59,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2016—the largest annual jump ever recorded in U.S. history. With drug overdoses now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, the consequences of these numbers cannot be underestimated. However, despite new federal sentencing ...
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Karina Schroeder
A 2014 poll from the nonprofit research organization PRRI revealed that 77 percent of Americans believe mandatory minimum sentences should be eliminated for nonviolent offenses. Another poll that same year from Pew Trusts showed 67 percent of Americans support treatment, not incarceration, for drug use.
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A New Normal
Addressing Opioid Use through the Criminal Justice System
The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose deaths that cuts across economic, racial, and geographic boundaries. In the midst of this devastation, people are struggling to find ways to save the lives of their community members. While the “war on drugs” created tough enforcement policies that resulted in a bloated justice system, ...
While the “war on drugs” created tough enforcement policies that resulted in a bloated justice system, there is increasing momentum for a smarter and more compassionate approach to people who use drugs.
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A New Normal
Addressing Opioid Use through the Criminal Justice System
The United States is experiencing an epidemic of drug overdose deaths that cuts across economic, racial, and geographic boundaries. In the midst of this devastation, people are struggling to find ways to save the lives of their community members. While the “war on drugs” created tough enforcement policies that resulted in a bloated justice system, ...
This video highlights some innovative jurisdictions that are implementing harm reduction strategies in order to reduce overdose deaths, improve the wellbeing of justice system-involved people, and advance the health and safety of their communities.
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