Addiction treatment in Pennsylvania prisons is improving, new report shows

One video features Chase R., identified by his first name only for privacy reasons. His addiction began after he was prescribed opioids while recovering from a motorcycle accident at 21 years old.

Eventually, Chase began using heroin and fentanyl on the street.

“Opioids really had a really strong hold on me, to the point where I became suicidal in the past, like I didn’t want to live anymore, because I didn’t want to keep hurting the people that I love,” Chase, now 37, says in his testimonial. “It’s been nothing but a battle ever since.”

Chase had access to the medication buprenorphine while he was in county jail, but he was cut off from treatment after he was transferred to state prison, which restricts medication to people who’ve already been taking it for at least 60 days.

Chase was 10 days short of that requirement, he said.

“You feel like you’re forgotten about and no matter what you do or how hard you fight, you’ll never win,” he says in a video, which only features his voice.

Storytelling producer and journalist Arielle Goodman said she wanted the series to show the true toll of opioid use disorder in prisons and how gaps in care affect people in their everyday lives.

“It’s a human story of profound injustice,” she said. “These stories are ultimately fragments of a full story that we will never know, because they are stories of people who are locked away.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. The hotline is staffed 24/7 by trained counselors who can offer free, confidential support. Spanish speakers can call 1-888-628-9454. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can call 1-800-799-4889.