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File Name | S22-Policy-NCFCA-40-NEG-OpioidTreatment.docx |
File Size | 74.98 KB |
Date added | January 31, 2022 |
Category | Policy (NCFCA) |
Author | Vance Trefethen |
Resolved: The United States Federal Government should significantly reform its policies regarding convicted prisoners under federal jurisdiction
Case Summary: The AFF plan increases treatment of federal prisoners to aid recovery from opioid addiction. The case is about “Medication-Assisted Treatment” (MAT) for opioid addiction. There are 3 major drugs that are given to people addicted to opioids that block the addiction and allow them to stop using dangerous drugs without the serious (and sometimes fatal) withdrawal symptoms. AFF will tell you the BOP isn’t doing anything today about the large number of federal prisoners with opioid addiction because they’re not doing enough MAT programs. But in Dec 2019, the BOP began rolling out an MAT policy of offering naltrexone (one of the 3 drugs) to all prisoners that want it. Boom, problem solved.
But AFF may come back and argue that the other 2 drugs (methadone and buprenorphine, a.k.a. suboxone) are better. Naltrexone works just fine and the other two, even if they are “better,” require special certifications from the Drug Enforcement Agency because they’re more dangerous. Today, it is ILLEGAL for the BOP to give anyone methadone or buprenorphine. BOP is trying to get its facilities and personnel DEA-approved, but it’s a long process. And expanding the existing MAT program is basically impossible anyway because they can’t increase the staffing levels to do it. Where do you find hundreds of people overnight who are qualified to administer methadone drug treatment programs? If they try to use existing staff, it will just divert them away from the naltrexone program, which will cause the very harms AFF was trying to solve (prisoners won’t get treated).