Did Drug-Laced Underwear Kill Inmate? Methadone Use and Misuse

CNN featured a news article entitled “Did Drug-Laced Underwear Kill Inmate?” Police say Corey McQueary died August 21st in a Kentucky Detention Center. His death is under investigation, however, his cell mate, Michael Jones, is charged with murder. Jones was out on furlough to attend a relative’s funeral and returned to jail with underwear soaked in liquid Methadone. Police believed he gave pieces of the underwear to his cell mates, including Corey McQueary, who died of a drug overdose. That action is determined to be the cause of death.

Upon first reading of this news article the impression is made that Jones committed a premeditated murder of McQueary – not by a gun, knife or other weapon, but by contact with Methadone soaked underwear, as if bodily contact of the underwear would cause death.

So what is Methadone? Methadone is a tool in the recovery of addiction to opiates – pain killers and heroin. It has properties that block opiate receptors, thereby blocking euphoria if one attempts to get high. It is a federally regulated medicine that prescribing clinics or physicians utilize for either pain management or addiction recovery. It decreases cravings for more opiates, and it allows time for the substance abuser to change their thinking, drug environment, habits, coping skills and support system. Methadone is prescribed in either a liquid or pill form that is orally ingested. It is not effective unless it gets into the blood system. It has minimal effectiveness through contact with skin.

One might believe that McQueary was a victim of murder and had no responsibility for his own death, as if Jones forced him to ingest Methadone. In my opinion, this is not likely the case. Jones gave pieces of the underwear to his cell mates who probably either wanted to get high, or who wanted to avoid the illness that comes from opiate withdrawal.

Chronic use of an opiate causes dependency. The body has come to depend upon the opiate to feel normal. In late stages of dependency, opiate addicts are focused on maintaining their drug use not to get high, but to avoid being sick. If ceased abruptly, the body experiences withdrawal symptoms. The intensity of withdrawal varies with the length of time one has been dependent, and the amount of opiates regularly taken. Although withdrawal from opiates is rarely fatal, it can be so intense that one might wish they were dead.

Some opiate dependent people become desperate to avoid the illness of withdrawal. They will do unspeakable things in order to have access to the drug, and thereby avoid withdrawal. Sometimes their actions are illegal, they are incarcerated, and are forced to undergo medically unsupervised withdrawal in jail.

I don’t have inside knowledge of this case, but perhaps Jones brought Methadone soaked underwear to jail in order to avoid his own withdrawal, or the withdrawal of others, or simply to get high. People who have adapted to opiates can tolerate Methadone. For those who are not adapted to opiates, even small amounts of Methadone can be fatal. Perhaps McQueary wanted to get high but could not know the quantity of Methadone that he ingested. Sadly, it killed him.

Many people believe that incarceration for non-violent crimes, such as drug possession and intent to distribute, is unwarranted. Given the overcrowding in US prisons, they make a good case. Illegal byproducts of drug addiction are sometimes violent. There will always be drug dependent persons in American prisons. I would like to see improved treatment that includes Methadone maintenance within prisons. If these people can continue treatment upon discharge, they will be better prepared for a drug free life as they re-enter their communities.