Mass. prisons start offering medication to treat addiction

For the first time, Massachusetts prisons are providing a medication to treat opioid addiction to newly arriving inmates, as the state launches a groundbreaking program established by legislation passed last year. For now, the Department of Correction is providing just one of the two medications required under the law, which took effect Monday.Still, the change puts Massachusetts ahead of most prisons and jails in the country, where the medications are usually denied.