Fighting an addiction is hard, but it can be even more difficult for an addict when they’re in jail or prison. Although for the past few years the St. Louis County Jail has used a Medication Assisted Treatment Program. This provides inmates suffering from an opioid addiction to get the help they need to kick their drug dependency and reintegrate into society.

Recently though, there are new changes to helping people on the long road of recovery. The Medication Assisted Treatment Program is now administering Sublocade, a monthly injection for addiction recovery. Melissa, a physician assistant with Aspirus St. Luke’s, says new medication could help even more people if it becomes more easily accessible.

“My sister overdose last year from a fentanyl overdose. I feel like had this been an option, I feel like that would have made a world of difference,” Melissa said. “We have 10 people right now that we’ve been treating. I also am the medical provider at NERC. Everybody there that’s in the program, except for maybe four people are on it. So it’s very popular. We’re probably doing two injections a week.”

Melissa says currently there are three options for inmates at the St. Louis County Jail. First there’s Methadone, which is a daily dose. However, released inmates would need to get their medication at the Center for Alcohol and Drug Treatment facility. Then there’s suboxone which is an oral medication, but the effects don’t last very long.

“So then the next option is Sublocade. It’s an injection in your stomach that lasts 30 days. So there’s no more daily dosing. There’s less cravings at the end of the day,” Melissa said. “There tends to be kind of better compliance and better patient overall satisfaction.”

There’s been early success with the inmates starting the long journey of fighting their drug addiction, according to Melissa. Although it’s important to have a circle of support as a safety net to prevent a relapse.

“Once you have an addiction, it physically, chemically changes the makeup of your brain,” Melissa said. “So it’s not something you can just say, ‘Well, I’m just going to put it down. I’m just going to move on,’ It’s not. It’s an actual disease. I think sometimes people just fail to see it that way.”

Melissa says after a few months, the hope is for the inmates suffering from an opioid addiction taking Sublocade, will only need to take it every other month to overcome their drug dependency.