Maryland must meet its mandate to address overdose crisis in criminal justice system

As we seek to confront the overdose crisis, one area too often overlooked is the criminal justice system, which accounts for more than one-third of referrals to addiction treatment programs. Approximately half of individuals incarcerated in the U.S. meet criteria for substance use disorder (SUD). Incarcerated individuals are up to 40 times more likely to die of an overdose within two weeks of release, which is a leading cause of post-release fatality due to loss of tolerance to opioids during incarceration when medications for opioid use disorder (OUD) are not provided.