Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Friday, June 2, 2017
(GREENFIELD) - Hancock County says a program to get inmates off heroin is making headway.
FOX59 reports, late last year, they started offering inmates Vivitrol - a drug used to keep opioid addicts from craving the narcotic. Now county officials say the results are promising when it comes to keeping people off drugs and out of jail. Officials are quick to admit that this is not a fix-all, silver bullet, but so far the results are promising.
"It's one thing maybe we can do in conjunction with treatment or probation because the goal here is to reduce recidivism," said Hancock County Prosecutor Brent Eaton told FOX59 news reporter Trevor Shirley.
Since the drug started being offered at the Hancock County Jail to inmates dealing with addiction, Eaton said they're seeing fewer inmates return, along with fewer released inmates dying from overdoses.
The drug has been on the market since 2003, but only in the past few years have cities and counties been offering it to addicted inmates.
In order for Vivitrol to be prescribed to inmates, there are several parameters a person has to meet and each person is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
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