Detoxing from drugs or alcohol can be dangerous anywhere, but when it happens in a turbulent jail environment, the person going through the withdrawal symptoms can be in even greater danger.
The case of a Marion County jail inmate, who died five days after being incarcerated while he was overcoming admitted drug use, raises questions about the level of care being provided to inmates at the facility. Challenges detoxing in jails have been widely reported. According to a 2022 joint report by the Bureau of Justice Assistance within the US Department of Justice and the National Institute of Corrections, 63% of those sentenced to jail have a substance use disorder, compared to 5% of adults who are not incarcerated.
Yet statistics from the Department of Justice from 2000 to 2019 reflect the nationwide number of inmate deaths at local jails who have died from drug/alcohol intoxication during that period increased by 397%. Female inmates’ deaths of drug or alcohol was nearly double the rate of males…