Emptying out my notebook, I wanted to share a few details that did not make it into the story than ran this week about the Department of Corrections’ decision, in the face of a persistently high inmate population, to extend its contract with Corrections Corporation of America and continue to send hundreds of Vermont inmates out-of-state.
* Given that the DOC currently has 1,600 in-state beds and 2,100 inmates, I asked Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito whether his department is considering building a new prison in Vermont, rather than relying on the for-profit CCA. Pallito said the DOC does not have even preliminary plans to build a new prison, but expected to discuss the issue with state lawmakers during the upcoming session.
“I think it will come up this legislative session,” Pallito said. “I think it will be a part of the conversation, though it’s always about money.”
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67% of the 76 deaths were attributed to illegally obtained methadone. 33% were attributed to methadone that had been prescribed to the person.
If you increase the use of it, you will also increase the prevelance of it being obtained by illegal means.
With regards to relapsing. I find your argument that all treatments have high relapse rates and as such that negates the high rate of methadone and so we should deem it as “effective.”
Obviously effective is a very subject word so it means different things to different people. When 3 of 10 people are successfully treated and 1 of those die from the treatment… well that’s just not how I would define effective. 2 out of 10 does not suggest to me that its the correct course to be on, and that an alternative should be pursued…