Buprenorphine Smuggling Sparks Detox Access Calls

A buprenorphine smuggling incident at a Michigan prison is sparking detox access calls nationwide. It comes after a corrections officer was found guilty of smuggling the drugs to inmates at the minimum security facility in Jackson.

The 46 year old corrections officer named Joshua Evans was indicted for buprenorphine smuggling into the prison through the visiting room.

Evans was found guilty of transporting over 150 strips of buprenorphine into the prison. The medication is used in Suboxone and it’s a Schedule 3 controlled substance. Despite its strict federal regulation, it’s an important protocol for treating persons experiencing opioid addiction.

When used properly, it connects with opioid receptors in the brain to block them, which reduces cravings and withdrawal symptoms because the body thinks it’s getting the opioids that it craves.

While it doesn’t cause a high when it’s used as prescribed, buprenorphine can be abused by taking far more than the recommended dose, which creates a euphoric feeling similar to the effects of taking opioids like heroin or fentanyl.

Evans was arrested in July of 2024 while trying to smuggle in the banned substance. He ultimately pled guilty to a felony charge of delivering a controlled substance. In June of 2025, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail plus 24 months of probation.

Had Evans not been caught, the impact of these drugs getting into the prison could have been detrimental to the inmates. They carry a small risk of overdose.

That said, the demand for buprenorphine in the US prison system speaks to the need for increased access to proven treatments like Suboxone among inmates struggling to maintain their sobriety amid fierce cravings and severe withdrawal symptoms.

While this isn’t the case in every prison, this particular facility does have an addiction treatment program, so there is help available for inmates who are trying to overcome the addiction. However, access to either medical detox or medication assisted treatment is by no means easy, consistent or assured.

Many prisons that do have treatment programs, potentially including this one, are still highly underserving the inmates. Programs are typically minimal and don’t incorporate buprenorphine or other types of medication assisted treatment (MAT), despite the fact that these techniques can substantially improve treatment outcomes.

The simple fact that there is a demand for drugs like this in the prison system goes to show that there are ongoing problems with addiction within the criminal justice system. It demonstrates that inmates need more effective ways to treat addiction and that more access to safe detox is essential. This could help more inmates to recover from addiction in addition to lowering health complications and healthcare costs in prison, along with lowering recidivism and crime in local communities.

When fewer inmates are in active addiction, it also lowers the demand for drugs and as a result, it lowers the risk for potentially dangerous smuggling attempts like this one.