The overdose death of a Butler County Prison inmate in November makes it clear exactly how important expanded drug treatment programs are for those in custody.

It was coincidence two stories in the Thursday, Feb. 1, edition of the Butler Eagle concerned both drugs and the Butler County Prison. On Wednesday, charges were filed against three inmates in connection with the death of Alec Miller.

Qualin A. Davis, 41; Richard A. Bowser II, 23; and William J. Derrick, 42, are facing contraband charges, and Davis is facing multiple felony charges, including drug delivery resulting in death. Miller, 23, died Nov. 22 from a fentanyl overdose. He had been convicted of murder in the March 2019 shooting death of Maximilian W. Halterman days earlier.

Also on Wednesday, the county received a $200,000 grant to help fund a medication-assisted treatment program for people with substance abuse disorder. Such programs use one of three medications approved by the FDA to treat opioid dependence: buprenorphine, methadone or naltrexone.

Such programs aren’t perfect. There are real concerns in jails and prisons that inmates can divert the medication to others, turning treatment into contraband.

But drug treatment programs are an important part of ensuring the safety and rehabilitation of inmates. According to figures from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, drug overdose, particularly opioid overdose, is one of the leading causes of death for people leaving jail and reentering society.

Addiction is a powerful force, meaning jails have to constantly be on alert for illegal substances, as Warden Beau Sneddon, of the Butler County Prison, noted.

“There’s no perfect system — people are always going to be scheming and trying to outsmart us,” he said. “(With) the extent people are willing to go to get contraband inside of here, we don’t always find the full amount.”

Efforts like a full-body scanner, which the county is going to install in the jail and will give staff an X-ray image to help find contraband, are one part of the equation. Expanded treatment options, whether medication assisted treatment or another program, are another part, and are equally important.

— JK