Addiction

For many people across the U.S. who need methadone treatment, sheltering in place during the coronavirus outbreak is impossible.

Many programs for people on parole, probation, or supervision take place in group settings—the exact opposite of what public health officials are recommending in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.

In Travis County, thousands of people continue to be prosecuted for low-level drug possession charges that reform-minded district attorneys elsewhere have committed to dropping.

Arthur’s story speaks to a troubling tendency in the legal system, reform advocates say: to treat mental health crises as criminal matters, rather than matters of public health.

Recent legal victories have spurred counties and states to provide medication-assisted treatment to prisoners struggling with substance use.

‘Worst policy imaginable’ punishes, rather than treats, patients who earn less than a dollar an hour, advocates say.

Few of the prisons trying to stem flow of contraband Suboxone offer substantial opioid treatment programs.

Public health advocates are concerned that ‘Kristen’s Law,’ meant to punish drug dealers, will criminalize users and fail to stem the opioid crisis.