ADDICTED PRISONER DENIED METHADONE

The state Department of Corrections has refused to provide methadone
treatment to a heroin addict in jail despite a court order to do so.

The Corrections Department and the state Prisoners' Rights Office are
scheduled to square off in Windsor Superior Court this morning to argue
whether Keith Griggs, 40, should be allowed to take methadone while he
serves a 15-day sentence for violating his parole.

Griggs has been in the Woodstock Regional Correctional Facility for eight
days and is suffering the intense flu-like symptoms of withdrawal.

Department of Corrections policy prohibits methadone treatment in jail. But
a condition of Griggs' participation in a Corrections program for
non-violent offenders with substance-abuse problems states that he should
not be taken off methadone without his doctor's consent.

Griggs, a former Burlington resident who lives and works in Putney, was
participating in the program instead of serving an 18-month to five-year
sentence for forgery for a 1999 conviction in Chittenden County.

He was sent to prison for 15 days because he failed to complete an
assignment in the program, his wife, Tammy Griggs, said.

The Prisoners' Rights Office on Wednesday won a court order that said
Griggs should resume his treatment.

Griggs was never given his medication.

A prison nurse declined comment and referred questions to Chief Medical
Officer Todd Werner, who could not be reached. Werner works for a St.
Louis-based company, Correctional Medical Services, that is contracted to
provide medical services in the state prisons.

"We work at the direction of the Department of Corrections," said Ken
Fields, spokesman for Correctional Medical Services.

Corrections Commissioner John Gorczyk said the order goes against prison
policy.

"We don't believe it's consistent with Corrections' best practices. It's
inconsistent with department policy and it's inconsistent with state law,"
Gorczyk said.

Methadone advocate Alice Diorio said denying Griggs the treatment that has
kept him off heroin for two years and allowed him to lead a productive life
is inhumane. Diorio was among those who intervened on Griggs' behalf to try
to get him methadone.

"This is needless pain and suffering," said Diorio, who is president of the
Vermont Harm Reduction Coalition. "I can't believe they would treat anyone
with such cruelty."

Tom Powell, clinical director for the Department of Corrections, said
Griggs' condition is not dangerous. If he were having serious medical
problems he would be taken to a hospital, Powell said.

Griggs' case is the latest in a battle over methadone treatment in the
state. The state approved treating heroin addiction with methadone a year
ago, but the treatment has yet to be offered.

The treatment must be provided by a hospital in or near the hospital, which
is another reason Corrections officials said methadone can't be dispensed
in prisons. Only one hospital in the state has said it is willing to
provide the treatment.

Methadone is controversial. It is used to block the symptoms of withdrawal
from heroin and prevent cravings for the drug. But many addicts take the
drug for long periods of time or indefinitely, which opponents say merely
replaces one addictive drug for another.

Griggs' situation presents another wrinkle in the debate -- whether
methadone should be allowed in prisons. Letting Griggs have his methadone
in jail could set a dangerous precedent, Powell said.

"It raises a thicket of ethical and practical issues to make it simple for
people to get into methadone treatment by coming to jail," Powell said.

Powell said he'd rather be cited with contempt of court than set a
precedent for such treatment. Griggs, meanwhile, is suffering the intense
flu-like symptoms of withdrawal including stomach cramps, diarrhea,
tremors, sweating, inability to sleep, confusion, fatigue and anxiety,
according to court documents.

Tammy Griggs has not been able to see her husband since he went to jail.
She was told he could have no visitors for six days. Thursday he was not
allowed visitors for another 72 hours, assistant superintendent Jerome
Doherty said.

His wife did receive a letter from him Tuesday in which he said he didn't
think he was going to get his methadone.

"I am powerless. There is nothing I can do," Tammy Griggs said. "All I can
do is sit here and pray to God. With him being sick, if they piss him off,
he's going to get more time."