BELLINGHAM, Wash. — In a novel case with national implications, the ACLU sues the Whatcom County Jail.
The Washington State chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Whatcom County Jail to force it to provide opiate-withdrawal medication to inmates, rather than requiring them to go cold turkey.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, says the Whatcom County Jail’s refusal to provide the medicine violates the Americans with Disability Act (passed by President George H. W. Bush in 1990), because opioid addiction qualifies as a disability under the law.
The lawsuit also says it’s counterproductive, because inmates who go cold turkey risk severe relapse upon release.