On a humid summer evening in downtown Atlanta, a patient of ours living in an encampment near Peachtree Street is arrested for the minor offense of trespassing and loitering. He is then taken to Fulton County Jail. During booking, the Methadone medication he takes daily for opioid use disorder is stopped.
Within 24 hours, withdrawal begins — muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, chills and insomnia. Days or weeks later, he is released. While the withdrawal may have passed, something else has changed: his body’s tolerance to opioids. When he returns to the encampment and begins using the same amount of opiates he always has, his brain and respiratory system are no longer adapted to handle it. This can quickly turn a previously familiar amount into an overdose.
Homelessness, addiction and the jail cycle…