Officials: Changes in prison policies working

Associated Press

CAMP HILL, Pa.

Major changes in mail and visiting polices at Pennsylvania prisons have sharply cut the number of corrections officers and employees seeking help for suspected exposure to synthetic marijuana, prison officials say.

The Corrections Department says cases of suspected staff exposure have plummeted since Sept. 6, when new policies were announced. There had been more than 50 instances in the prior month, but only eight since the start of September. Officials said all have been cleared to return to work.

Drug overdoses among prisoners have fallen, and investigators believe illicit drugs have become scarcer inside the system, where synthetic marijuana and Suboxone and its generic equivalents are by far the most common problem.

“Prices have increased pretty dramatically,” said Maj. William Nicklow, head of the Corrections Department’s investigations and intelligence bureau. “They’ve doubled and tripled in some cases.”

There has also been a recent spike in the number of visitors caught trying to smuggle in drugs, which Nicklow said “is a direct result of us cutting off the mail avenue.”

In Ohio, where nearly 30 people were treated for exposure to a heroin and fentanyl mixture, authorities also have been taking measures to stem employee exposure to contraband drugs, but correction officers are demanding they do more.

Synthetic marijuana, technically synthetic cannabinoids and also called K2, refers to a class of chemicals that trigger responses in the brain receptors that also respond to the active compound in marijuana. Suboxone, a prescription drug that contains opioids and is used to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms, is commonly smuggled in prisons.