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Medications

Interview with Kristen, Renee, Chad and Dennis

JM: Did you always have access to necessary medications?
Kristen: No, I was 8 months pregnant, but it was 3 weeks before they would give me prenatal vitamins and tums.
Renee: You have to see the doctor or psyc doctor to get your meds. The waiting list to see the psyc doctor was long, it usually tookseveral weeks to see them, in the mean time you were left with out medication.
Chad: It depends on if they believe you or not, or if you can prove that you actually need it. But generally, they give you something to help. They have a policy to not allow narcotics though, which really aggravates some people who really need it; like cancer patients, people with severe back problems, etc.
Dennis: No the medical dept. did the bare minimum of bare minimum.

JM: How did you get your medications?
Kristen: They would bring it to me in a cup through a small hole in the door when I was in isolation and when I was out, you had to wait in the medline and go to a window.
Renee: Wed have to drop a slip to see the doctor, then be put on a waiting list. Once seen the nurse came in a few times a day to give out medication.
Chad: The nurse comes the the block twice a day to administer medications. Inmates line up with their cup of water, take their medications, and go on with their business.
Dennis: They would come around with a medication cart twice a day once in the morning and once at night. They would lock every one up in their cells and open a few cells at a time to come and get your meds.

JM: What types of punishments were incurred for abuse of drugs? Did you ever witness this?
Kristen: New charges and being sent to the hole. I never witnessed it, but I've heard stories. And when one person gets caught with it, there's a shakedown and they search everyone's cell and there is a pat down.
Renee: You were immedietly put into r.h.u. People cheaked their medication and sold them for commissary. A fe people did get caught. Others had suboxone sent in, rumors went around about this and two girls got caught. Other would also bring drugs in with them.
Chad: If you are caught abusing your medication, you are usually taken off the medication and written up. You can be moved to 'the hole' (lockdown) or given some other form of punishment. I never really saw it happen.
Dennis: Yes i did witness that one inmate was hiding his saraquwil and selling it to another inmate for commissary items. Someone told the guards this and he was sent to the restrictive housing unit.

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