Over the last 30 odd years,the drug war has cost an arm and a leg and drugs
are cheaper and easier to find.
Stupid white men.
Governor Nixes Methadone Plan for Vermont Prisons
Thursday, December 20, 2001
Vermont Governor Howard Dean has again proven himself to be a formidable
obstacle to methadone maintenance therapy in Vermont. In May 2000, the
state of Vermont finally joined 44 other states and passed a law allowing
for methadone maintenance, despite the opposition from the Governor. Gov.
Dean eventually reached a compromise with the Legislature by stipulating
that methadone be distributed in a controlled environment and not for
take-home use. Although a methadone clinic has yet to open in Vermont --
the first is scheduled to open in January 2002 in Burlington - the Vermont
Department of Corrections recently announced plans to allow certain inmates
to receive methadone in jail. This summer the Department of Corrections
argued against methadone in court, but later agreed to allow methadone
distribution in jails. Since the Department of Corrections' approval of
prison-based methadone maintenance therapy, Gov. Dean intervened and put a
stop to the program, which would have been limited to inmates already on
methadone. The recently thwarted Department of Corrections decision
resulted from a lawsuit involving an inmate who was on methadone as a
condition for his probation. Whether or not the Governor's decision will
spur future lawsuits remains to be seen. At the press conference announcing
his opposition to methadone distribution in prison, Gov. Dean said he would
like to see AIDS "put back on the front burner." Hopefully the Governor's
opposition to harm reduction does not extend to needle exchange. According
to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 58% of AIDS cases
among American women are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners
who inject drugs. Overall, 36% of AIDS cases in the United States can be
traced back to intravenous drug use. This easily preventable public health
crisis is a direct result of zero tolerance policies that restrict access
to clean syringes.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/12_20_01vermont2.cfm
