“Burghardt is 32. He’s been working on staying sober for a decade with the help of methadone, a slow-acting opiate doctors use to help people steer clear of heroin. Still, he’s been in and out of jail 11 times in the last 12 years: arguments where the police are called; drug possession; driving without a license.
And every time Burghardt lands in Valley Street Jail, he has to go off methadone, cold turkey.
If Burghardt lived in at least 33 other countries — from Canada to Iran to Kyrgyzstan — he could continue his methadone treatment behind bars. But very few jails and prisons in the United States allow the drug, even though the World Health Organization calls it an “essential medicine” and recommends that it be available to inmates.”
Read more at: http://nhpr.org/post/inmates-methadone-forced-detox-can-be-dangerous-cycle
Source: New Hampshire Public Radio – April 12, 2016
