Incarceration is Deadly, Increase Access to Naloxone

What You Need To Know

• Substantial evidence shows that incarceration is associated with increased risk for overdose death. Research has confirmed that overdose is the leading cause of death among people recently released from prisons, as well as the third leading cause of deaths in custody in U.S. jails. (Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) 

• The ways that incarceration contributes to increased overdose risk, particularly for people using opioids, include tolerance loss during periods of abstinence, limited access to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD, also known as MAT) and naloxone while incarcerated and when released, and disruptions to health care and social supports.

• A study found that, in the two weeks following their release, people who had been incarcerated in state prisons were 129 times more likely to die from an overdose compared to the general public.*

Where to Go for More Information

• “Everyone leaving jail or prison should be offered naloxone kits that can be used to reverse an overdose.” - Jail-Based MAT: Promising Practices, Guidelines and Resources by The National Commission on Correctional Healthcare and the National Sheriffs’ Association

• Overdose Deaths and Jail Incarceration - Vera Institute 

Examples

• Jail and Prison Opioid Project (JPOP)

Research

• Mortality After Prison Release: Opioid Overdose and Other Causes of Death, Risk Factors, and Time Trends From 1999 to 2009

• Release from Prison—A High Risk of Death for Former Inmates

• Drug- and Alcohol-Associated Deaths in U.S. Jails

• Recent Incarceration, Substance Use, Overdose, and Service Use Among People Who Use Drugs in Rural Communities