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Drugs & The Prison System in Australia

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The-Future

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Joined
Oct 4, 2010
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I have been diagnosed with a bunch of personality disorders (aspergers, avpd, OCD etc.) and to make it worse I'm dependent on Valium and Codeine and currently I'm on quite high doses. There is a chance I could go to prison for something stupid I did a few years ago, maybe a few months and worse case scenario a few years. I was just wondering if they prescribe anything in there to help or will they make me go cold turkey? I don't know how I'll survive in there completely sober, I would probably end up in solitary since it's near impossible for me to interact with anyone without medication.

I know it would be wise to taper down but the sentencing was moved forward to next week. I'm currently taking 80mg Diazepam and 600mg-1200mg of Codeine, a day.

Anyone have any knowledge on this or experience?
 
No experience, but I have spoken to a doctor about opiod maintenance in jail if you were to choose that route. This is just what he told me, but he believes there is a lot of pressure put on people to spit up their methadone and/or other drugs they're prescribed and things like that, which makes going in with a habit or a dependance of any kind, prescribed or not, a very difficult situation to be in.

I know it isn't easy, but if you think jail is a possibility, it may be a good idea to do everything you can to get clean before going in. This would also look favourable to a judge when your sentence is decided.

Sorry I can't help more, maybe others can offer some better advice. This is all speculation and I have no idea what it's like in prison, I'd like to keep it that way too.
 
Heya mate.....I got out of the Queensland prison system last year. Believe me, 90% of the inmates will be there for drug, or drug-related criminal activity, so you are far from unique and alone. Of course they prescribe medication in there, although it is very difficult to get prescribed opiate medication. Is your codeine from a legitimate script or are you getting it another way?

I was on 10mg in morn and 10mg at night of Valium. They also prescribe atypical anti-psychotics (primarily quetiapine) which will help you stay relaxed and calm. I went in there and cold-turkey detoxed from 40mg/day methadone and weekly use of morphine (250mg)...I didn't really notice the detox because prison is a huge lifestyle change and most of your Brain-power seems to get directed to adjusting safely to a fairly toxic environment.

And everyone does. Everyone. I almost certainly have Asperger's (I understand fairly extensively the manifestations and signs of ASD) and suffer from ADHD, anxiety and depression. I got all my meds while inside, at every stage of my incarceration. They have to be on the money with meds because the prison system can get sued if they fuck up, ya know? Ya think us prisoners would hesitate for a second to try and fuck the prison system instead of the other way around? Lols.

80mg diazepam is a lot. the most you'll most likely get is 20, maybe 30mg. Get on methadone (ring the DDU in your area, or even a chemist could help. If you speak to a pharmacy, ask if they can help you find a 'dispensing' chemist in your area. That's a pharmacy that dispenses subutex, suboxone and methadone. Then ask them who your local suboxone/methadone-licenced GP is, and go see ém. It's easier than you think. Get the doc to tailor a specific taper-down, and by the time you hit the watch-house you'll be detoxed and good to go.

Anything else ya wanna know?
 
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ive heard that friend of a friend who was prescribed dexamphetamines for add, was not allowed to take them whilst he was in jail.
 
yeah probs. if he had really kicked and screamed, they would most likely surrender and give it to him. Anyone on S8's could go up to medical and get dosed, as opposed to from the med trolley....
 
Never been to prison but have come close so I hope this is relevant. I have been locked up a couple of times until I saw a judge, the worst was only 4 nights and I was allowed my prescription but only what it said on the bottle and had to sign shit saying that I give permission to the watch house to allocate my pills to me, but only what was prescribed by a doctor.
 
The Codeine isn't prescribed, the Valium is prescribed by a GP who has no idea about the legal problems are and he would cut me off immediately if I told him. My next script isn't available for another month so I can't see him about a new script before the conviction.

If I do end up in prison there is no way I'm going to get through it sober so I might start making some calls about methadone.
 
Why were you cold turkey detoxed from prescribed 40mg per day methadone ?
 
"Might want to custom make yourself a half sized needle for your rectum" Ha! Mate, nothing will put you off using in prison as fast as watching people fuck around with a "lady'', a cut down needle which is so blunt they do shit like use margarine to lubricate the site of injection, and watch them pass it straight to the next guy. And you hear rumours about HIV-positive users and what not.
 
TaSiPtR said:
Why were you cold turkey detoxed from prescribed 40mg per day methadone ?
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Because I was on the methadone program, and there was a two-month gap between committing the crimes and getting caught. I was arrested on a Sunday, and was in the watch-house by Sunday night.

The QLD prison system doesn't offer the prison population maintenance opiates, nor does it provide clean needles. In my opinion, they would do well to introduce both these harm-minimisation techniques.

Having said that, my dispensing chemist has staff there who remember watch-house staff (police) coming into get methadone take-away doses specifically for the people in the watch-house.

Anyone had experience with methadone and prison?
 
I called some people and found out that opiate maintenance doesn't happen in QLD prisons at all, but it does in the watchhouses. In QLD prison it's completely banned but for women prisons it is allowed.
 
I spoke to a doctor about this once, he may have been trying to scare me and/or help me taper off as quickly as possible which was my goal anyway. He told me that in prison, if someone is on methadone or buprenorphine, a lot of pressure will be placed upon these individuals to "spit up" their dose, or basically stand over tactics are used to steal the medicine from you. I have no idea if this is true or not, I don't want to find out, but maybe others can chime in with some experience or at least stories of what happens to those on opiod replacement inside prisons.
 
opi8 said:
I spoke to a doctor about this once, he may have been trying to scare me and/or help me taper off as quickly as possible which was my goal anyway. He told me that in prison, if someone is on methadone or buprenorphine, a lot of pressure will be placed upon these individuals to "spit up" their dose, or basically stand over tactics are used to steal the medicine from you. I have no idea if this is true or not, I don't want to find out, but maybe others can chime in with some experience or at least stories of what happens to those on opiod replacement inside prisons.
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Well, from what I saw during my time inside, people are not actually on buprenorphine or methadone. Like The Future said: I called some people and found out that opiate maintenance doesn't happen in QLD prisons at all, but it does in the watchhouses. In QLD prison it's completely banned but for women prisons it is allowed.

Having said that, there is a fair amount of Suboxone/Subutex inside, smuggled in via quite ingenious methods. It's a bad scene though, well worth avoiding. I'm on testosterone, and while inside there were some inmates who tried to stand over me for it, but I stood my ground and eventually they gave up.....
 
Hey The-Future, it's frustrating that we can only post one private message every 180 mins....so, because you've only got a short amount of time before sentencing, could you send me an email at <snip>, and send it from your normal email account, so we can communicate easily. Let me know when you've sent a message. Cheers mate.
 
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I feel for ypu dear...one of my greatest fears has been to go to jail/prison while dependent on drugs/meds. (Happened once for 7 day...but I was lucky I got out on 7th day and I had went in with a brand new Butrans patch on (buprenorphine patch that dispenses for 7 days)..it kept away the worse of the withdrawals.

I have no idea about jails/prison over there, but I know that here in the US it is very rare to find one that does maintenance on anyone. Years ago I worked in several prisons and jails as a nurse and the only time anyone got any type of controlled substances from medical was if they were in the infirmary just back from the hospital from surgery or some such procedure..and then only for a day or 2. Also in a few places they HAD to detox from alcohol and benzos somewhat because cold turkey can sometimes kill you. I don't remember what they used as it was so long ago but I know that they did it very quickly.

Good luck to you dear. Is the sentence a for sure thing or is it possible incarceration might not happen at all? Will keep you in my thoughts as I can't think of a more miserable occurence.
 
Incarceration might not happen, I'm fortunate enough to have some of the best lawyers and they say they have a strong defense. I feel like I deserve a sentence but if it doesn't happen I'll be put on strict probation and drug tested weekly which is punishment anyway. Willy has put my mind to rest, if I was put in prison I think I could handle it fine. I've been watching lots of doco's on US prisons and it had me worried.

I found out sentencing will be on Wednesday and not Monday.

I did a rapid taper of Valium and Codeine with my last doses today. I went to the mental health hospital today in hopes they'd give me some Valium for the next few days and it seems as though I've been put on a benzo blacklist so instead they gave me Seroquel.
 
Just a reminder that we don't allow the posting of personal email addys here.

A friend of mine got locked up while he was on bupe - he did continue getting it when he was inside. This is in Vic. Like opi8 said, there's a big market for that in jail. This guy got locked up pretty frequently - he used to ensure he was on bupe when he did because he could get so much selling that shit inside.
 
footscrazy said:
Just a reminder that we don't allow the posting of personal email addys here.

A friend of mine got locked up while he was on bupe - he did continue getting it when he was inside. This is in Vic. Like opi8 said, there's a big market for that in jail. This guy got locked up pretty frequently - he used to ensure he was on bupe when he did because he could get so much selling that shit inside.
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Thankyou for the advice mate....I didn't know personal email addresses were not allowed. I am new to this site and appreciate the patience The Moderators have shown to me. Thank you
 
OP..I wish you much luck on Wednesday..just think positivem

You said you had watched a lot of documentaries on prisons in the US...so what are the big differences between the ones here and the prisons there? I am really very interested and curious if anyone doesn't mind answering.
 
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