Pubdate: Sun, 09 Aug 2015
Source: Boston Globe (MA)
Copyright: 2015 Globe Newspaper Company
Contact: http://services.bostonglobe.com/news/opeds/letter.aspx?id=6340
Website: http://bostonglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/52

WOMEN ADDICTS NEED TREATMENT, NOT PRISON

One of the most promising themes in Governor Baker's plan to stem the 
surge of opiod overdoses is his vow to stop treating addicts like 
criminals. As Baker noted when he released details of the plan in 
June, addiction is a disease, and arrest and incarceration are no way 
to treat substance abuse.

A good way for Baker to start putting that sentiment into action 
would be to end the Commonwealth's practice of sending women with 
substance abuse problems to a medium-security prison - even when they 
face no criminal charges.

Under state law, individuals with substance abuse problems can be 
involuntarily committed at the request of a family member, guardian, 
doctor, or police officer. They are supposed to urdergo detox and 
treatment at a licensed facility. But because of a lack of treatment 
beds, they often end up being civilly committed to MCI-Framingham, 
the state's only prison for women.

While there, women who have been committed are treated like regular 
inmates: They're strip-searched, issued prison uniforms, and housed 
with pretrial detainees. What's worse, they don't get the promised 
treatment for their addiction, such as individual counseling, 
educational programs, or aftercare planning. They're merely being warehoused.

A year ago, some of these patients sued the Commonwealth, with the 
help of several advocacy organizations, to end this shameful 
practice. This lawsuit, now in the discovery process, underscores the 
urgent need for addiction treatment options. The good news is that 
Baker gets it. His supplemental budget, still pending in the 
Legislature, includes $5.8 million to transfer current civilly 
committed women at the Framingham prison to Taunton State Hospital. 
Lawmakers should step up and pass this measure.

Lisa, a 41-year-old alcoholic, is one of the hundreds of addicted 
women who have been imprisoned in Framingham. She was civilly 
committed under a statute known as Section 35 in January and spent 22 
days at MCI-Framingham, until a mental health official at the prison 
recommended her release. "Nobody said nothing to me, nobody explained 
the process," says Lisa, who didn't want to use her real name. "I 
mean, I didn't commit a crime. I was shackled, handcuffed. . . . It 
was horrible. I would never want anybody go through that." Seven 
other Section 35 women were imprisoned with her, she says. "You can't 
go to an AA meeting [at the prison] because, they say, you're not an 
inmate - even though they treat you like an inmate.

"This is a disease, it's nothing I chose," says Lisa. "I still fight 
with it to this day. But scaring someone straight isn't the way, and 
that's what they do. I can't imagine a judge would do that to their loved one."

Women who have been committed are treated like regular inmates: 
They're strip-searched, issued prison uniforms, and housed with 
pretrial detainees.

Fortunately, as attitudes about addiction have shifted, policies have 
too. Examples of this policy evolution are already popping up: 
There's the Gloucester police chief who made national headlines by 
deciding that his department will be focusing on treatment for drug 
addicts who end up at headquarters. Methuen followed up with its own 
initiative and hired outreach coordinators to visit those known to be 
struggling with addiction.

Addicted men who get civilly committed are sent to a facility at the 
state men's prison in Bridgewater - but unlike women at 
MCI-Framingham, men at Bridgewater receive addiction treatment under 
medical supervision. While Baker's move to add more treatment beds is 
a step in the right direction, a permanent remedy is needed to end 
the practice of "treating" women for substance abuse by committing 
them to MCI-Framingham.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom