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Judiciary members press for better treatment access inside jails and in the community
Summary
Committee members said detention facilities sometimes do not provide continuity of medication-assisted treatment and urged joint hearings to examine treatment access as part of public-safety strategy.
Senate Judiciary members raised concerns that people detained in the criminal justice system may not receive continuity of medication-assisted treatment and urged a broader look at treatment in the community as an alternative to incarceration.
One committee member described cases where detainees who were on Suboxone or methadone before arrest "in some circumstances [are] not getting access to that and then being released back out," calling such interruptions "pretty disruptive" for people in recovery. Another member said community treatment and prevention should be part of the committee's response, observing that evidence shows incarceration alone has not produced greater safety and that the nation remains a leader in incarceration rates without corresponding safety outcomes.
A speaker cautioned that the committee should examine both treatment inside detention settings and community-based alternatives, noting that overdose risk after release increases substantially but that the speaker did not have a precise hard number: "We know that when people are released from incarceration, their risk of overdosing increases some ridiculous percentage, 100 or 200%. I don't know necessarily what the hard number is." Members proposed joint hearings with other committees and Department of Corrections briefings to evaluate treatment access, continuity of medication-assisted therapy, and preventive programs designed to reduce incarceration and overdose risk.
No program changes were enacted at the meeting; members requested briefings from DOC and signaled interest in cross-committee hearings.
