Pubdate: Mon, 09 Jun 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Ryan Boetel
Page: A1

NEW DRUG PROBLEM FOR JAILS

Narcotic Can Be Hidden on Greeting Cards, Child's Drawings

There's a drug making its way into local jails - one that can be
camouflaged on children's drawings, greeting cards or postage stamps.

The Metropolitan and Sandoval County detention centers in the past
year have deployed new techniques aimed at stemming the flow of the
drug Suboxone, a fairly new narcotic used to treat opiate addiction.

The jails no longer allows crayon drawings or greeting cards, and
require letters to be written on white paper.

MDC is the largest jail in the state with about 1,900 inmates, and
drug smuggling is a constant concern, said jail spokeswoman Nataura
Powdrell. She said Suboxone's popularity in jails has surged in the
past year and a half and is now one of the more common drugs found.

In addition to treating such addictions as heroin, morphine and
prescription pain killers, Suboxone can produce its own high.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it to treat opiate
addiction in 2002, while methadone, another drug that treats opiate
addiction, was introduced in the U.S. in 1947.

Metropolitan Detention Center Capt. Frank Maestas said Suboxone leaves
behind an orange color when it is applied to paper, so MDC now only
allows black-and-white copied paper into the facility.

A common way to smuggle the drug in was to apply it to children's
artwork, he said.

Late last year, jail policy was changed to require all letters be
written on white paper and put in a white envelope, and no notes with
crayon, marker or paint are allowed. The facility also no longer
allows greeting cards.

"It takes away the ability to camouflage" the drug, Maestas
said.

Sandoval County Detention Center Director Al Casamento said the jail
made changes to the inmate handbook in March and no longer allow them
to have paintings, greeting cards or stamps. The jail also no longer
allows colored envelopes, he said.

Casamento said officials at jails around the state have seen an
increase in Suboxone being smuggled into detention centers in the past
year and a half. "It's a statewide issue," he said. Casamento said the
new jail policies three months ago appear to have decreased the amount
of Suboxone in the SCDC, though exact numbers weren't available. But
drugs still make it inside. The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office has
responded to MDC because of narcotics there 76 times from Jan. 1. to
May 27 this year, according to sheriff's office records. And that
doesn't account for the times jail staff found drugs but didn't call
outside law enforcement, instead handling the matter internally, said
MDC K9 officer Norman Rance. An internal punishment could come in the
form of reducing an inmate's hours out of cell, for example.

Rance said the history of the inmate caught with drugs, and the type
and the amount of drug found, can determine whether the jail officials
call for sheriff's deputies or punish the inmate on their own.

Casamento said he is less likely to call police on an inmate caught
with Suboxone compared to an inmate caught with another drug. He said
law enforcement doesn't have a field test to prove if a suspected drug
is Suboxone or not, and a lab must test the substance in order to
charge the inmate with a crime, he said.

Because it can be applied to paper, Suboxone is harder for jail staff
to discover than other drugs, Rance said. The user can get high by
putting the altered paper on his or her tongue.

Rance said Suboxone applied to stamps or other documents can make them
appear to be routine mail.

At the Metropolitan Detention Center, Arek, a police dog, also plays
an important part in finding the drug. The dog routinely peruses legal
mail being sent to inmates because jail staff are not allowed to read
it before giving it to the inmate. About six months ago, phony legal
documents coated in Suboxone were daily finds at the jail. Those
numbers have dwindled, and now jail staff stop Suboxone smuggling
attempts two or three times per month, Powdrell said.

Nonetheless, officials said inmates are thinking of ways to get around
the jails' recently enacted policies.

Rance said inmates at the jail have been overheard discussing using
cinnamon, coffee, salt or oregano to try to throw Arek off the scent.

"The inmates are talking about him," Rance said. "They are trying to
find ways to trick the dog."
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