RESOURCES

Problematic “Safety” Protocol in Lancaster Co. Jail’s Addiction Treatment Program 
 
Health Policy Network is investigating a concerning safety protocol at Lancaster Prison. Detainees receiving medication for opioid use disorder are restrained with handcuffs behind their backs as a “safety” measure. HPN is working with experts to educate officials on alternative methods to manage addiction treatment programs.  We believe that stigmatizing people engaged in lifesaving medical care is counterproductive and could result in costly civil rights litigation. 

See discussion of LCP’s handcuffing protocol beginning at 47:35 – 1:04 

at 1:06 (request for withdrawal management protocol)

at 1:08 – 1:11 handcuffing protocol and ADA

at 1:20:05 – 1:27:30 , late dosing grievances (MAT), more handcuffing protocol, ADA,

Civil Rights, the ADA, and Addiction

 Drug-Induced Homicide Prosecutions 

 Fentanyl: Policy vs. Panic

  • Policy: Five Pillars of a U.S. Response to Illegally Manufactured Synthetic Opioids (Feb. 2022)  Related article: Synthetic Opioids are an EVERYTHING Problem (June 2022)
  • A blue-ribbon, bipartisan federal commission spent 12 months studying the national crisis of deadly fentanyl poisoning. Commission members included Congressional leaders from both parties, a former DEA administrator, law enforcement agents, drug policy and addiction agency leaders, and skilled research staff from the nonpartisan RAND Corp. They interviewed hundreds of experts, and studied classified and unclassified reports. I read the 94-page report, released in February 2022, so you won’t have to.
  • The TL:DR: it offers 21 recommendations, spread out over five “pillars’ or domains, to address the crisis. They divided the recommendation between supply interdiction recommendations and demand interdiction recommendations.  The report emphasizes that the only way to address the flood of deadly illicit drugs is to coordinate policies on a federal and international level. The Five Pillars:
  1. Demand reduction and public health, which notably features harm reduction along with expanding treatment and recovery supports.  
  2. Policy coordination & implementation to include fixing outdated regulatory frameworks. 
  3. Strong international relationships and cooperation are required. 
  4. Research and monitoring programs to fill the many gaps in our data and surveillance. 
  5. Supply reduction is the longest section, with a 6 requirements to disrupt supply. (None of which includes “border control” between the U.S. and Mexico, because that doesn’t work.)

Harm Reduction

Justice System / Criminal-Legal System 

  Language: Substance Use and Addiction 

  • The AP Style book updated it’s recommendations in 2017 on appropriate terminology, yet some journalists to this day are still using “addict” as a noun, or other language that elicits bias. We can all do better.
  • Changing the Narrative, the Action Lab at Center for Health Policy and Law: The Tired Narratives of Drug Policy: resources to accurately report on drug policy issues   
  •  Words Matter: Guide from the Action Lab. I recommend the RECOVERY DIALECTS “checklist” here, by Ashford, Brown & Curtis, Drug & Alcohol Dependence (2018). Their research showed that some terms used by people referring to themselves in private, like in a mutual aid meeting, did not elicit the same level of negative bias associated with stigmatizing terms used in public or by medical professionals
  • Reporting on Addiction – new resource for journalists, educators, and experts. Download their condensed style guide
  • Language Matters in the Recovery Movement, Faces & Voices of Recovery. Another source for the 1-page infographic RECOVERY DIALECTS “checklist” (2018) by Ashford, Brown & Curtis. 
  • Study Suggests Calling Myself an ‘Addict’ Is Different Than You Calling Me One (2019) Institute for Research, Education & Training in Addiction (IRETA), short essay by Jessica Williams

Language about persons who are justice-involved

 Opioid Settlement Funds 

Peer Support/ Recovery Support 

Pharmaceutical Marketing

Substance Use Disorders and Opioids