Sarah Elizabeth Reeves was booked into Montgomery County Jail in Conroe, Texas, on August 3, 2020. She had a medical emergency, and NARCAN® (naloxone) was administered to her but didn’t improve her condition. EMS transported Ms. Reeves to a nearby hospital, and she died there on August 5, 2020.

A study on drug addiction in custodial settings was done by a federal agency, and one of the conclusions was that 80% of offenders abuse alcohol or drugs. About half of all prisoners are drug addicts with a clinical addiction to at least one drug. Across the nation, inmates with drug offenses make up approximately 46.2% of federal U.S. imprisonments.

Opioids are a problem for a large percentage of inmates. Various jurisdictions across the country have opted to provide prisoners with naloxone aka NARCAN® upon release from jail. It is a life-saving medication that reverses opioid overdoses. Harris County and Bexar County in Texas have both adopted the practice of providing prisoners who have opioid addictions with naloxone when they are released.

What makes these programs significant is that, according to statistics, inmates released from jail or prison are 40 times more likely than individuals in the general population to die from an opioid overdose within the first two weeks after their release.

Learn more in this continuing series.

With the intention of helping inmates in Texas county jails, posts are provided on the website. There is never an intention to suggest that persons or entities have engaged in wrongs.

–Guest Contributor