De Facto Death Sentences for Misdemeanor Offenses
A Right to Medication for Opioid Use Disorder Induction Under the Washington Law Against Discrimination
Alena R. Sharp
Abstract
The opioid crisis remains one of the deadliest public health emergencies in the United States, disproportionately impacting marginalized communities, including people in the criminal legal system. Medication for opioid use disorder is the recognized standard of care for treating opioid use disorder. Despite the fact that medications have also been shown to reduce overdose deaths and relapse rates, many prisons and jails continue to impose blanket prohibitions on medications for opioid use disorder for nonpregnant individuals, placing them at an elevated risk for acute withdrawal, suicide, and fatal overdose.
This comment examines the systemic barriers to access medication for opioid use disorder in correctional settings and explores the legal frameworks advocates have used to compel such access, including relying on the Eighth Amendment and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, this comment argues that the Washington Law Against Discrimination offers a pathway forward for individuals who enter custody addicted to opioids but have no prior prescription for medication for opioid use disorder. When jails screen, diagnose, and treat incoming individuals with medical conditions like asthma or diabetes according to the community standard of care, but fail to screen, diagnose, and treat individuals entering custody with opioid use disorder according to the standard of care, they engage in unlawful disability discrimination under the Washington Law Against Discrimination.