Salt Lake County has a new strategy to combat the opioid crisis from inside the county’s jail. The new approach seeks to address the opioid epidemic by administering medication designed to treat addiction and providing patients with substance abuse counseling while they are in jail custody. “Not only is this intervention the compassionate thing to do, it’s the cost-effective thing to do,” said Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, who hopes the expansion will curb recidivism rates for individuals struggling with substance abuse. According to Brent Kelsey, assistant director of the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, 75% of people released from jail with an opioid addiction relapse within 90 days, sometimes fatally. Roughly 400 Utahns will die from opioid overdoses this year.
Source: KSL.com
https://www.ksl.com/article/46708053/salt-lake-county-program-aims-to-combat-the-opioid-crisis-from-inside-jail
