This blog was written in November, 2014.
Drugs solve nothing yet the biggest
drug dealer I’ve ever met is the medical unit inside the prison. I’m not
talking antibiotics here (though a young man I know is going out this week for
an ultra-sound because he may have testicular cancer. This guy was given
antibiotics for the past 3 months, “just an infection,” he was told), I’m
talking Prozac and dozens of other pills because guys think they’re depressed.
They need pills – or they think.
First, if you don’t get the least
bit depressed over this environment, you are crazy. But men in here want meds.
And that is the problem. One of the guys I know went back on Prozac this week.
“I’m stressed,” he tells me, worried about going home in 11 months. Now, this
guy’s time in here was directly tied to alcohol abuse. He knows he has to avoid
alcohol – and drugs – when he leaves. Why then, would he turn to Prozac? More
importantly, why would the system so freely give him Prozac (with only a quick
visit with the “onsite psychology unit” – read non psychologists – and a 5
minute video chat with a state-employed psychiatrist)? I’ll tell you why –
because it’s easier medicating guys than dealing with them. And for the guy I
know back on Prozac – he thinks numbing his mind (and sleeping 16 hours a day)
will help him deal with the guilt and remorse he feels. It won’t.
Drugs are everywhere in here. I
write about it a lot. But, the other truth is, DOC pushes drugs in here. They
want you on meds. It gives them control. Is depression real? Yes. Is there a
place for Prozac and Zoloft? Sure, but in proper doses under proper medical
treatment. That doesn’t happen in prison. Stop pushing pills in here! There are
too many zombies behind bars, too many guys getting hooked on too many
substances that will cause them problems after release. Then again, maybe
that’s what the powers that be want.
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