HOUSTON — The Harris County Sheriff, Ed Gonzalez, is taking on the national opioid epidemic. Now, when some Harris County jail inmates are released, they will walk out with a double dose Narcan kit. It's a life-saving medication that reverses an opioid overdose.
It's the latest effort by Gonzalez and his team to expand Harris County's fight against opioids. In 2018, deputies began carrying the medication, in case deputies became exposed to dangerous drugs or came across a person who overdosed.
Also in 2017, the Harris County Sheriff's Office began incorporating Vivitrol, a medication that curbs opioid cravings and prevents relapses. the medication was added to the multi-level sobriety program for county inmates. The Harris County Sheriff's Office also has a team of licensed counselors, trained nurses and recovery coaches to work with as much as 15% of the jail population that struggles with addiction.
"A drug addict is 40 times more likely to overdose and die within two weeks of release from jail, I mean, that caught our attention," said H.C.S.O. Major Mike Lee.
Federal grant money sent to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services was then funneled to the University of Texas-San Antonio which created a program to distribute Narcan to Texas county jails. The program started in Bexar County in August and in Harris County in October.
The Harris County Sheriff's office gives the nasal spray to high-risk inmates who are addicted to opioids or who were addicted to opioids or an inmate who lives with someone who is addicted to opioids.
The instructions on how to use the medication are on the box and with just a few steps, the instructions are easy to follow. A county nurse explains the process to each inmate before they are released.
"It’s actually a counteraction to any opioid and so, it’s an emergency use drug and so, it will save a life, but it’s not something that you would come back to the county to receive," said H.C.S.O. Head Nurse Dariel Newman. "We understand that in the reality of things, just like any other illness, there is a very good chance that someone that’s already in recovery can have a relapse."
And if you're wondering why anyone would give the medication to someone who chooses to be on drugs, "our response to that is, these are still lives," said H.C.S.O. Major Lee.
So far, about 100 doses have been given to inmates upon release, along with contact information for local recovery programs.
"To me, the ultimate measure is going to be saved lives," said Newman. "If those opioid death rates go down, then we’ll know that we were at least a part of that."