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.