CountyJail.net

Find Wayne County Jail inmates...

Medications

Interview with Hugh, Cameron, Sarah, Roy and Janicki

JM: Did you always have access to necessary medications?
Hugh: Yes. They have a doctor, but jail health care isn't really the best. But if you came in and had prescriptions for antidepressants or anti- anxiety they wouldn't give you some of them... they try not to give you the narcotics. Your judge would have to order them to give it to you.
Cameron: I did not need any medications.
Sarah: I don't take medications but many did. I got a prescription for pain killer. If you had a prescription they would give you the bottle unless it was a controlled substance or psychiatric drugs. They nurse came daily in morning and evening to administer such drugs to inmates through the door.
Roy: i havent ever been medicated...but i did see others gett heres in a timely fashion,and i actually ripped my hand open punching josh in the back of his head,the stitching from when i punched the window out broke open and i had to go see the nurse,she was a bigger black women and was very very friendly,she loved that my veins were popping out,made it easy for her to give me an iv
: Absolutely not. If you brought in your own medication, they wouldn't give it to you. If you needed to see a medical doctor, you would be on a waiting list that was weeks long. If you required mental health medication, your wait was just as long, if not longer.

JM: How did you get your medications?
Hugh: The nurse comes to the floor three times a day... they put them in a dixie cup. You show your armband, and then you take it in front of them. If you are sick you put in a heath care request and then they schedule you to see a nurse practitioner.
Cameron: I did not need any medications. Consequently I did not get my medications, because there was no need for nay medications. It seems silly to have to write twenty words when I did not need any medications.
Sarah: I had vitamin C and and pain medication and once antibiotics for a cold. I was given the bottle to be administered by myself.
Roy: the gaurds brought them to you along with a trustee,they usually brought everyones at once,with a tiny dixie cup of water for them to chase the medication with
: I had to wait to see the p-doc before I received any medication. I once brought in my own meds, but I only received one of the four I take.

JM: What types of punishments were incurred for abuse of drugs? Did you ever witness this?
Hugh: You would probably get new charges. If you come in with a habit they don't give you anything, you just go cold turkey. If you go in and tell them you are detoxing from alcohol they will give you lithium or librium to help you.
Cameron: I never saw anyone use drugs, except in the holding cell when I first got there. Some people were arrested and brought in and they still had drugs in their pockets. All I saw were crack and pot, the people who had it smoked it just to get rid of it.
Sarah: I don't do drugs. So I was not hook into the underground drug scene. But I knew that some sneak drugs in. I didn't see any obvious drug use. But there was a lot of bad behavior and obvious drug users coming down. Punishment was usually be lock in your cell, moved to another rock, or sent to the psych area. Sometimes loss of commissary privileges, loss of visits. Being locked in your cell seemed to be the biggest punishment used. However, I saw one very disruptive, abusive and aggressive prisoner, who was given 1 week lock in the cell. It was enforced on the day shift but not the night and sometimes not even the day if you got a friendly deputy. Sometimes they would take you off the rock and put you in a holding cell for a few hours.
Roy: no i did not,i did see people trading the tiniest of joints for money,lik e literally something you could have hit maybe twice
: Medication is like gold in jail. People are willing to buy you anything you could want from commissary just for something that would make them sleep. At one point or another, the nurse decided that I was a potential "cheeker" (A cheeker is someone who hides there pills in their cheek instead of swallowing them in order to give them to someone else.)and they would inspect my mouth as if they were my dentist. I only did this once but I am a guilty participant when it comes to the receiving end. I knew one of the girls on my block from rehab. She was on every type of medication you could want in jail. I would just give her my cereal and cakes from meal time and she would give me her medication. It worked out well for both of us. My Bunkie was a complete basket case and I would then share the same medication with her.

Read about inmate clothing in the Wayne County Jail