iris lyrics by the goo dolls …

When we first arrived at the tents, the detention officers informed us that it would be announced when we could get our medication during the day. Another inmate asked a DO when they would be dispensed, and we were informed that it would be announced around 10:30am. We waited and nothing was announced.

I waited until the late afternoon for any announcement, which never came. I finally asked a DO (very politely) if I could get my medication. His response was “Where were you this morning?” and “When did you get here?” I told him that I was finally given a bunk at 2:45am after being in intake for 20 hours, so I didn’t know when medications were normally dispensed.

He opened up the gate to the medication lockers for me, and several other inmates who were in the same predicament quickly showed up to get their meds. The DO expressed how unhappy he was that we were inconveniencing him.

Unfortunately, I never quite determined when medications were normally dispensed, because the time drifted between days and announcements were sporadic.

In the evenings, medications are usually dispensed between 7:30 and 8:00pm (although one evening was after 8:30pm) and after ID/Headcount at 9:30pm. I think the morning medication is dispensed at 6:00am to 6:30am, but it was never announced during the 10 days I was there. I finally gave up on getting my meds from the DOs and I ordered a refill to take at home during work release.

I observed one individual who seemed to have a bit of a mental problem. During intake he kept collecting rubber bands and items on the floor, and seemed to be obsessed with making something out of them. He was a little belligerent with the guards and they seemed to determine that he was missing his medications. Rather than send him home, they told him they would reduce his 4 day sentence to 3 days if he would cooperate. He ended up in the tents with us.

Normally, the DOs won’t admit you without your required medications (if you are self-surrendering). They’ll send you home to get them, and if you need extra time they’ll require that you report back to the court to reschedule your sentence. In this case, they strangely made an exception.

It is unfortunate that they require you to bring your meds, however, as I found it somewhat difficult to obtain them at first and the guards are unwilling to make special trips outside of when they feel like dispensing them.

If my prescription would have been “as needed for pain”, I think it would have been very difficult to get the cooperation of the guards to get my meds.

Those inmates with more severe physical handicaps were not allowed in the tents. They were instead placed in a cell, although I’m not sure in which jail. I would imagine that if a more severely mentally ill person were to be clear about their handicap during intake, they would either be placed in the infirmary or into one of the cells.