We cannot ignore our prison population as we battle the opioid epidemic  

In the heart of New Jersey’s Camden County Jail, Warden Karen Taylor is pioneering a transformation that should be the norm in our correctional facilities. She’s ensuring that every new resident is screened for substance use, and when necessary, begins treatment immediately to put them on a path to recovery so they can succeed and thrive when they return home.  

Dr. Gupta visited the jail and met a person in custody named Freddie, a 38-year-old man who had battled opioid addiction and found himself incarcerated multiple times over nearly two decades. But in 2021, everything changed for Freddie; the day he entered the Camden County Jail, he finally got the help he needed. Now, Freddie speaks of hope, family and a bright future. His story is a testament to the power of evidence-based drug policy to save lives and transform communities. 

In Maryland’s Clarksville Correctional Facility, the U.S. Department of Labor’s American Job Center provides the job training and placement people need so they are prepared to rejoin their communities. This is an effort Tom first implemented when he served as a Montgomery County elected official and later scaled up nationwide as U.S. secretary of Labor. 

These stories illustrate what’s not only possible but desperately needed across the nation to address people’s core needs.  

Today, there are approximately 2 million individuals in federal, state, local, Tribal or territorial correctional facilities, with up to 65 percent of them battling a substance use disorder. Only a small portion receive the treatment they need. 

As a result, of the nearly 110,000 overdose deaths in 2021, up to 27,000 were people recently released from jail or prison. People who lack access to medication for opioid use disorder are 120 times more likely to succumb to an opioid overdose in the first few weeks after release. It’s a crisis we cannot ignore. 

Imagine if every jail and prison across our great nation were equipped to provide medications for opioid addiction and provide people with the tools they need to succeed after reentry. Imagine the tens of thousands of lives that could be saved each year. Imagine a brighter future where people leaving the criminal justice system enter the workforce, contribute to our nation’s economy, and build stronger communities.  

That’s the vision we’re working tirelessly to realize within the Biden-Harris administration, and it’s a vision state and county leaders can help bring to life. 

We understand the hurdles that state and local correctional leaders face. Many want to offer medication for opioid use disorder, but concerns about cost have held them back. That’s why, as we expand access to treatment within all 122 federal Bureau of Prisons facilities, we’re also providing training, technical assistance, and financial support to help expand access at the state and local levels.  

And our commitment doesn’t end there. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are helping states leverage Medicaid to treat addiction within correctional walls, bridging the gap for those who need help.  

Medicaid coverage is a game-changer, offering a lifeline that ensures continuity of care upon release, giving people a fighting chance at a successful reentry into society. Sixteen states, both red and blue, have already seized this opportunity. Today, Jan. 26, marks the one-year anniversary of the first approval. We urge the remaining 34 to do the same for the sake of saving lives and taxpayer dollars.  

These goals are key parts of the Biden-Harris administration’s Alternatives, Rehabilitation, and Reentry Strategic Plan, to strengthen public safety by reducing unnecessary criminal justice system interactions so police officers can focus on fighting crime, supporting rehabilitation during incarceration, and facilitating successful reentry.  

The plan builds upon President Biden’s Safer America Plan  — his comprehensive strategy to prevent and combat gun crime and violence — and outlines more than 100 concrete policy actions to improve the criminal justice system and strengthen public safety, leveraging data, research and proven successful strategies from state and local governments across the country. Expanding access to treatment for substance use disorder is also a core objective of the administration’s National Drug Control Strategy, and supports the president’s commitment to beat the overdose epidemic as part of his Unity Agenda for the Nation.  

Making sure people get the addiction treatment and job support they need before reentry is more than just good policy — it’s the right thing to do, and it’s the smart thing to do, in order to save lives, make our communities safer and stronger, and empower our economy and our nation. These measures have a proven track record of success across the country, and have been implemented by leaders from both sides of the aisle. 

The opioid epidemic isn’t a matter of red states or blue states; it’s an issue that affects all of America. Leaders in states, counties and cities across the nation today have a real opportunity to make a profound difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people like Freddie. By acting to allow treatment in prisons and jails, supporting recovery through job training and other essential services, and partnering with the business community to create workplaces that are ready to welcome those in recovery, we can usher in an era of drug policy that strengthens families and communities across the nation.  

Working together, we will bring about lasting change that will save lives, heal our nation, and help end this crisis once and for all. 

Rahul Gupta, MD, is director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. 

Tom Perez is senior adviser and assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.