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Scotland's national naloxone program: The prison experience
Author(s) -
Horsburgh Kirsten,
McAuley Andrew
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1111/dar.12542
Subject(s) - prison , general partnership , (+) naloxone , opioid use disorder , opioid overdose , medicine , psychiatry , political science , public administration , criminology , opioid , psychology , law , receptor
Launched in 2011, the Scottish national naloxone program marked an important development in public health policy. Central to its design were strategies to engage prisoners given their elevated risk of drug‐related death in the weeks following liberation. Implementation across Scottish prisons has posed particular challenges linked to both operational issues within prison establishments and individual factors affecting staff delivering, and prisoners engaging, with the program. Barriers have been overcome through innovation and partnership working. This commentary has described how the development of the program in prisons has adapted to these challenges to a point where a largely consistent model is in place and where prisoners‐on‐release are reaping the benefits in terms of reduced opioid‐related mortality.