(WHTM) – Pennsylvania prisons are increasingly prescribing Suboxone to inmates for their opioid addiction. The state has embraced the move, saying it saves lives by weaning inmates off drugs.

Michael Ohler, President of the Pennsylvania Corrections Officers Association, says it’s not a secret that state prisons are addicted to Suboxone. The prescription medication comes in the form of a tablet or film that is designed to help get inmates off drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, and prescription painkillers.

“Once it comes out that, ‘hey, I can get Suboxone because of this, even though I had never been on drugs before,’ then it filters out to the rest of the inmate population, and one by one they keep saying, I can get this drug.”

Any inmate can request it, and lots have. Five years ago, fewer than 500 state inmates had a prescription. That number is now just under 6,000, with 3,000 more referred to the program and awaiting approval.

The state is also paying more for it; five years ago it cost the Department of Corrections less than $25,000 a month, and it’s now costing more than $233,000 a month.

“I don’t understand why we create a policy that puts them back on drugs. Even if you say Suboxone is, it doesn’t hurt nobody. Why? Why are we doing it?”

Former State Corrections Secretary John Wetzel says there’s a 35% reduction in recidivism of people who were prescribed Suboxone.

“There’s no question as to its effectiveness or efficacy when administered appropriately.”

The Department of Corrections says it doesn’t decide who gets Suboxone, and such decisions are “only made by licensed medical professionals based on clinical evaluation.”

Courts have ruled that denying Suboxone to inmates with opioid use disorder violates the Americans With Disabilities Act.

“If someone has this illness, whether people like to call it addiction and mental illness or not, the court doesn’t care about your opinion,” said Wetzel. “If you have a drug that is readily available and someone has a condition that requires that drug, you give them the drug.”

Suboxone can create a mild high, Ohler says, which is why so many want it.

The drug is also being used to treat inmates in county jails.

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