NM jail methadone treatment in effect until February

At least until February, methadone-dependent inmates will still get their dosages at the county jail. 

The extension of the program came after the Bernalillo County Commission decided Tuesday to take the issue up at its January meeting. Jail staff announced in late November it would end the methadone program. 

Commission Chair Art De La Cruz says the program should be a matter of county policy rather than subject to staff decisions. The commission will meet a few weeks after the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center ends its contract with Recovery Services, the contractor that has given methadone to an average of 140 inmates a month at the jail since 2010. The service costs about $10,000 a month. 

The extension also comes in the middle of a weekslong audit at MDC aimed at gathering information about the methadone program’s efficacy in reducing addiction, recidivism and crime. 

NM jail methadone treatment in effect until February