Interview with Reggie, Sarah, Brenda, Mike and Will
JM: Did you always have access to necessary medications? Reggie: no Sarah: Oh, this is a bad one. My attorney brought my
Synthroid, Aleve, and supplements (Osteo-Biflex,
etc) from home, but the guards said they
couldn't find them. When I check out, they were
all in my garmet bag. They brought me what they
said was Synthroid, but it wasn't the same each
time, and I'm not sure it was the right dose. I
can't take the generic. They tried to give me
meds I did not want, like tranquilizers and low
blood pressure medicine. I refused. My blood
pressure had skyrocketed on intake, but they
would not give me any information on the low BP
medicine they wanted me to take. I continued to
have hi BP problems for 2+ years. The med they
wanted to give me was in a catagory of another
that actually made by BP go up. They refused to
allow me to see my own physician after I passed
out and fell. Brenda: not a first you had to show out frist to get the
med you were on Mike: if you needed meds you would report the officer
watching the block, sometime that week, they will
get to you , maybe Will: Not even close. The medical staff was impossible to
get hold of and they took almost everyone off all
the medications they had been prescribed coming in.
JM: How did you get your medications? Reggie: You received medications from nurse when ever you
were suppose to take them. Sarah: The nurse came around with a tray of med cups
for each inmate around 8 am and 8 pm. It seemed
she had enough for the whole floor. They always
tried to give me tranquilizer, which I refused.
I believe it is something they give all the
inmates. I objected, saying they have drug
problems coming into the jail, and they don't
need to be making more. They tried to get me to
take 2 Aleve twice a day, where I normally take
1 a day or sometimes 2. I took 2 a day only so
the nurse would come by twice a day instead of
once. I had a very hard time getting them to
monitor my BP. Brenda: nu sue or your family have to bring it to you or
you didn't get your med you took whether give you Mike: after you got a medication plan, daily. but the
medical team there is snobs who hate their job and
love the paychecks Will: I had to buy over the counter stuff like ibuprofen
and allergy pills from commissary. If you needed
real prescription medication then you had better
come up with a good song and dance because you were
not getting anything there.
JM: What types of punishments were incurred for abuse of drugs? Did you ever witness this? Reggie: Solitary Confinement Sarah: I don't know. They push tranquilizers, so I
don't know why they'd punish inmates for taking
them. Brenda: you would get put in lock down and get more time
time from the judge and had to stay in your cell along Mike: punishment : solitary confinement
everyone sold their meds. its just another way to
get by jail bring the worst in you. i learned real
drug slinging there Will: People were randomly drug tested and they got sent
to the hole for failing the tests. In the last month
I was there, several guys all failed the tests and a
few weeks later it was found that the tests were
coming up with false positives and several guys had
been sent to the hole for weeks because of it.