Opioid withdrawal is a dangerous, excruciating endeavour in the best of times, under the care and supervision of qualified professionals in addiction recovery centers. But some people are not so lucky and are forced to detox in jail cells, where they may be deprived of care or maintenance treatment. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimated that 15% of the people entering jails and prisons were addicted to heroin, an opioid drug. Most U.S. jails, however, don’t give inmates any treatment or medication for opioid withdrawal, and they must suffer through the symptoms unmedicated. While some cases of withdrawal are relatively minor, with symptoms such as insomnia, muscle pain, and runny nose, others must endure dangerous levels of diarrhea and vomiting, dehydration, and even delirium, seizures, and convulsions. The withdrawal process can last between several days and a week. When inmates are forced to go through untreated opioid withdrawal, several adverse effects occur. Those who are going through withdrawal may attempt to find heroin in jail to ease their symptoms, and spread bloodborne diseases like HIV due to shared needles. People who detox from opioids cold turkey are also in danger of overdose once they leave jail—their tolerance is reduced to zero, and when they try to take the same dose as before jail, their system can’t handle it, and they die. Inmates who don’t receive methadone maintenance treatment while in jail are unlikely to seek…