When she was arrested on April 20, 2022, 63-year-old Lorelei Then Palmore informed officers with the Tioga Police Department in Tioga, Texas, that she was withdrawing from meth. Two days later, she was vomiting blood and fellow inmates said she told them she had swallowed drugs before her arrest. The jail transported her to Wilson N Jones Hospital and released her from custody, but she died at a hospital the next day, April 23, 2022.

Another problem county jails in Texas are forced to deal with is the sharp increase in the number of inmates addicted to drugs or alcohol who experience withdrawal.

Withdrawal Deaths in Jail are Preventable

Watchdog groups defending inmate rights often point out that withdrawal deaths are preventable. Protocols and withdrawal policies should be established and implemented so that individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) can be saved. A recent report disclosed that 63% of inmates in city and county jails suffer from a SUD, although only 5% of adults who are not jailed have the same condition.

Between the years 2000 and 2019, there was a 33% increase in custodial deaths from all causes. Shockingly, the percentage of inmates who died from drug or alcohol intoxication increased 397% during that same period.

The average length of a stay in jail before dying from drug or alcohol intoxication was one day. This is due to abruptly stopping the individual’s access to their drug of choice. Specifics vary from region to region. For example, 17% of the inmates in New York City jails experienced acute opioid withdrawal. In Pennsylvania, 81% of the people who entered a county jail needed detoxification services, half of those for disorders involving opioid use.

For more information, see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this ongoing series.

It is not intended on this website to make accusations of wrongdoing against any person or entity. Posts on this side are meant as resources of potential benefit to inmates who are currently or have formerly been detained in a county jail in Texas.

–Guest Contributor