Thirty-seven-year-old David Quannah Brown was booked into Potter County Jail in Amarillo, Texas, on June 5, 2021. Mr. Brown died on June 6 less than 7 hours later. Officers said they believed he was under the influence of unknown narcotics, per a report from the Potter County Sheriff’s Department.

According to journalistic reports, county jails are now the primary place where opioid addicts detox. Between half and 75% of the U.S. jail population today has a dependence or substance abuse problem. The expense of administering daily doses of the drugs such as buprenorphine that help to keep opioid cravings under control is far beyond the budgets of most county jails.

In the past, jails were not treatment providers. But with the drastic changes that have occurred such as inmates dying from withdrawals, county sheriffs are seeking solutions. A detailed guide to jail-based medication-assisted treatment (MAT) offering best practices was released by the National Sheriffs’ Association in 2018. The guide asserts that multiple partnerships and support services are needed, in addition to the needed medications.

The guide stresses the importance of client screening so that withdrawal treatment can be provided. U.S. jails that have implemented medically managed withdrawal services seek to launch inmates on a path of long-term recovery.

Learn more in this ongoing series. In the next segment, learn some of the guidelines for detoxification cells established by the Texas Commission on Jail Standards (TCJS).

This website seeks to help inmates incarcerated in county Texas jails. There is never an intention to infer wrongdoing on the part of people or organizations.

–Guest Contributor