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Medications

Interview with Larry, Tawnie and Henry

JM: Did you always have access to necessary medications?
Larry: i never took medication while I was in there. The only thing I would get is an inhaler for my asthma but rarely used it since my asthma was crucial. But I always wanted to have one just in case.
Tawnie: Three times a day the nurse would hand out meds. You had to put in a request form to see the nurse if you didn't come into jail with a Rx already. Seeing the doctor and getting the meds might take a week or so. I came into jail with my medication on me, so they already knew what I needed to take and they provided it usually by the second day I was in.
Henry: no.many times i felt like seeing a doctor they make you wait hours.by the time they were ready i could have been dead or i just fell alseep... they make you wait, so that by the time their ready to help you , you either dont need it, which says to them you didnt really need it to begin with, or your still feeling bad but you just have to deal with it until they feel like letting you out. they only care about sedation.giving you pills, giving you shots, etc.. they gave me a sleeping pill and i was out for 2 days..only waking for count time at 5am.

JM: How did you get your medications?
Larry: my medication was sent to my door but other people went to pill call. They would wake you up before meals and the nurse would be there running pill call. The officer would open one door at a time to let them out to do pill call. Needless to say that most of the guys there would be taking medication for something or another but mostly psychotropic.
Tawnie: The nurse would come to each dorm with the med cart, along with the CO who would supervise distribution. You would need to line up single file with a cup of water and take the meds infront of the nurse. You had to take them and show that you swallowed the pills.
Henry: by bothering the heck out of the staff and constantly hitting the button for aspirin when i would get a migraine. they dont care about you in jail. To them, if your life is not at stake and you can get air in your lungs, your perfectly ok.

JM: What types of punishments were incurred for abuse of drugs? Did you ever witness this?
Larry: if you abuse drugs while you were in there you could get extra time and also get sent to the hole. I dont really know what the hole is since I have never been there but I take it that its not a pretty place.
Tawnie: I never saw anyone abuse drugs given out because they had to be taken infront of the police and the nurse before you walked away.
Henry: i saw people get punished by going to solitary and getting their free time taken away ( as well as good time) from them for smoking cigarettes and or making alcohol.most of them got extra charges and more time to serve and lost any privileges they might have had prior.

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