This webinar will feature presentations from key researchers who will summarize the effectiveness of medications for addiction treatment (MAT) for individuals with a substance use disorder, and specifically those in jails and prisons.

The vast majority of individuals that have used opioids are within the criminal justice system. Rates of opioid use among the justice-involved population are 400 times higher than that of the general public. Of the 2 million individuals in prison and jail in the United States, 19 percent have regularly used opioids. Studies have found that individuals returning from incarceration to the community are at a high risk of a fatal overdose during the transition. A Washington State study found that individuals released from prison and jail were up to 129 times more likely to die during the first two weeks after release compared to the general public, with drug overdoses as the leading cause of death. These risk factors have significant implications for reentry planning and services to ensure quality care among justice-involved individuals as they transition to the community.

Research also shows that providing MAT prior to and during reentry cuts the risk of death by 75 percent.

Presenters:
– Tisha Wiley, PhD, Branch Chief, Associate Director for Justice Systems, NIDA
– Peter Friedmann, MD, MPH, DFASAM, FACP, Chief Research Officer, Baystate Health
– Faye Taxman, PhD, University Professor, George Mason University