Prisons Accept Medication-Assisted Treatment in the Fight Against Opioids

Some US prisons have begun trials with Vivitrol, an injectable monthly medication for decreasing cravings and blocking opiate highs, in order to prevent returning inmates from using once they are out of the prison system. 

The trials are part of a campaign started by Vivitrol’s manufacturer to help prisons save money. According to addiction news website The Fix, incarceration costs are around “$30,000 a year per prisoner” and fifteen percent of the over two million incarcerated Americans suffer from addiction issues (Ferranti, 2016). Proponents of Vivitrol use in prisons state that “substance users can be released instead of serving time, and save taxpayers a significant amount of money” (Ferranti, 2016). 

Illinois, Michigan, Vermont, Wyoming, and Wisconsin have all started Vivitrol trials in prisons, and there is one prison in Texas using the drug. 

Ferranti, S. (2016). Prisons turn to Vivitrol to fight opioid epidemic in prisons. Retrieved from https://www.thefix.com/prisons-turn-vivitrol-fight-opioid-epidemic-prisons