Female inmates over-medicated, Canadian study suggests

Female inmates are over-medicated, a Correctional Service of Canada report says Female prisoners are as much as 10 times more likely than other women to be on prescription drugs, partly because they do not have to pay for them and medication appears to be over-prescribed. The fact that offenders have few other treatment options and that medicine is sometimes handed out in advance, just in case it is needed, also contribute to the "striking" level of pill use, the study concluded.

The pharmaceuticals distributed behind bars range from birth control pills to muscle relaxants, anti-depressants and opiate-based painkillers.

The study looked at the legal drug consumption of all 384 female inmates on one day in 2001. It found that just under 90% had medications, with an average of 4.4 drugs each. By contrast, only 45% of women on the outside use even one drug at a given time, according to a 1999 federal government study used for comparison purposes.

Also, more than 60% of offenders were on three or more medications, 10 times the rate among the same age group in the general population. More than 40% were taking psychotropics, such as anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-epileptic medication used for mood stabilization.

Of course the report say that this "might be a problem". I'll be adding a direct link to the actual report over the next day or so.