[ad_1]
A federal judge ordered an Essex County jail to give methadone to an inmate who was recovering from an opioid addiction.
On Monday, US District Judge Denise Casper ordered the Essex County Penitentiary Authority to provide Geoffrey Pesce, age 32, with continued access to her methadone treatment for that he was in prison.
Pesce violated his probation on a charge of YES last summer. Even though he admitted that it was wrong to get behind the wheel, he was concerned that his long-term battle with opioids might fail if he was forced to stop his daily treatment at the same time. methadone.
The prison does not allow drugs for drug addicts behind bars. Pesce then called the ACLU, which sued the prison.
>> RELATED: New trial ordered in 1986 for murder in Lowell City Hall
"His treating physician has shown that it is medically necessary to continue this methadone treatment," said ACLU attorney Jessie Rossman.
Sheriff of Essex County, Kevin Coppinger, said he was not against it, but that he was concerned about how to do it.
"I have to decide exactly how we are going to handle Mr. Pesce if he were to arrive here on Monday," said Coppinger, "but whatever we do, every effect has a domino effect overall."
Coppinger admitted that the decision was revolutionary.
"The Pesce case is the first, it's a new field across the country," Coppinger said. "It's the first of the country, so whatever we decide, this coaching effect will spill over the country."
© 2018 Cox Media Group.
[ad_2]
Source link
