40% Of Rural People Using Illicit Drugs Were Recently Incarcerated

About 41.7% of people living in rural areas who use drugs have been recently incarcerated. Those who had been recently incarcerated were more likely to have had an overdose in the previous six months; more likely to have participated in addiction treatment. Recent incarceration was not associated with treatment with medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) or with carrying naloxone to reverse an opioid overdose.

The link between rural drug use and incarceration was identified in a review of survey responses from 2,935 people in eight rural areas nationwide who reported using illicit drugs in the past six . . .