Addictions treatment for Lethbridge inmates could save lives, advocates say

Ingrid Hess, a Lethbridge lawyer, says she recently met a man in his 20s who had been released from jail with a fentanyl addiction.

Hess says the man "wasn't destined to be a criminal,"but then he got hooked on drugs.

"The downward slide is so fast and so alarming," she said."He goes from no criminal record to having repeat offences and multiple, multiple overdoses within a year."

Hess said the young man should have received treatment during his sentence at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre. Instead, he was released earlier this year with an addiction.

"As defence counsel, we're thinking, how can we help this kid get off the roller coaster he's on?"

Drug treatment in jail

Alberta Health Services now plans to offer suboxone and methadone to inmates with addictions in all 10 provincial jails after a pilot project in a Calgary facility.

About 60 inmates at the Calgary Correctional Centre received treatment outside the jail.

Talks are underway to replicate the program at the Lethbridge Correctional Centre, where health officials reported seven overdoses among inmates since September 2017.

Hess said she tried to help the young man find treatment. She even drove him through a snowstorm to a detox facility in Fort MacLeod.

"He only stayed in detox for a few days and took off. And I just recently saw him again on the street."

'The most humane way'

Stacey Bourque, executive director of the Lethbridge harm reduction agency Arches, said under existing rules, inmates who had been prescribed suboxone or methadone before they were sentenced could continue their treatment in jail.

Other inmates addicted to opioids faced "excruciating" withdrawal.

"Without having [treatment]accessible to them when they come in, it's going to increase the risk of them [smuggling]narcotics into the facility to curb that withdrawal," Bourque said.

"It's very, very scary for a lot of individuals that are entering into corrections and knowing that they're not going to have any medical support to curb the withdrawal symptoms when they go in."

Dr. Arlene Oishi, a Lethbridge doctor whose clinic treats about 250 patients with opioid addictions, said the program in jail could save lives.

"It's the most humane way to treat the opioid addiction," she said.

Alberta Health Services has not set a firm timeline on when the Lethbridge program will start.

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