BMJ 1994;309:271-272 (23 July)

Letters

Drug users in prison

EDITOR, - Michael Ross and colleagues make an impassioned plea for better provision of care for drug users in prisons.1 Dependent drug users presenting to the prison service should have access to appropriate treatment, and, as the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs recently pointed out, there should be continuity of treatment between the community and prison.2 There has been considerable pressure to ensure that the delivery of methadone detoxification to opiate users presenting to prison is adequate, and guidelines have been drawn up, with the cooperation of key people involved in drug treatment services, to promote this. Opiate users should be given sufficient methadone during drug withdrawal to reduce the likelihood of them injecting and using contaminated equipment.

Ross and colleagues insist that the existing seven day withdrawal regimen is unethical. Colleagues and I run an inpatient unit where we provide a 10 day withdrawal regimen for all . . . [Full text of this article]


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Relevant Article

Prison: shield from threat, or threat to survival?
M Ross, A B Grossman, S Murdoch, R Rundey, J Golding, S Purchase, T Munyard, M Scoot, and A Bridger
BMJ 1994 308: 1092-95. [Extract] [Full Text]

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