If I Was You, I'd Kill Myself

Sue is awaiting transportation to the Taycheedah Women's Prison in Wisconsin from the Eau Claire, Wi. county jail. She has been in the jail since her July arrest. She was arrested after an informer gave her money to buy drugs. At least that's what the informer says; Sue says he was paying her back money she had lent him since they had been such good friends. She never bought any drugs, however; she was arrested with nothing but the money, heading home. Apparently the agents were worried she would just keep their money. Or maybe they were in a hurry to get home. Apparently only they know. Sue had recently come under the treatment of an area methadone treatment provider. So, when her urine was analyzed, she came up positive for methadone. This is despite the fact that she had a perfectly legal prescription for the drug. This is very common. For this, her probation was revoked. Under pressure, she agreed not to contest the revocation. She will go to trial in January for accepting the informer's money. For this she will be charged with drug sales. It's hard to see how she could possibly be convicted but this is a drug violation they are alleging, fully subject to all the "drug law exceptions" of the Constitution and Common Law. On her arrest, Sue was denied any sort of care for her opioid dependence, i.e.; her addiction to her daily methadone. That's right, she underwent every addict's nightmare: "cold-turkey" withdrawal. She saw the jail's doctor, who prescribed the blood-pressure medication clonodine which has some minor effect on narcotic withdrawal but the jail administration, citing rules, would not allow her to have it. Inquiries were met with the statement that, "nobody ever died from withdrawal." Unfortunately, this is not true. On being presented a copy of the Susan Bennett story, who died in an Orlando jail at the same age and under the same circumstances, to show them the danger, the paper was shoved back with the warning: "We don't want none 'a that!" Sue was visited by the probation agent throughout. It appears the purpose of these meetings was to allow the agent to unleash invective on this helpless addict. For instance, she told Sue - who has a driver's license - that it was a good thing she "got" her because this "saved her children" from death in a car crash which she said was inevitable in a methadone patient who drove. She told Sue that she wasn't an addict but a criminal and society didn't want to treat her but, rather, wanted it's just vengeance. And there's more. Sue has been kept away from all other prisoners since she entered the jail. She gets no privileges and does not get to attend NA or AA meetings. This is despite her sponsor's efforts. She is not allowed church or anything else. The screws are on this women tight. Sue wrote letters to judges in two counties asking to be let in to their Drug Court programs. She seems a perfect candidate. She had never been in any trouble until she discovered opioids and, then, her offenses had all been drug law violations. Sue soon received letters from the judges informing her that they would not consider her for their programs. Nobody knows the reason so I will leave it to you to hazard a guess. As you might expect, Sue has been in a pretty low state. She made it through the cold-turkey withdrawal but it left her in the depths of despair. An almost daily onslaught of attacks on her character had taken it's toll. She recently had another visit from the probation agent who told her, "If I were you, and I was in the situation you are, I would kill myself!" Under the circumstances, this is most certainly an attempt to induce Sue to take her life. The probation agent knows how low Sue is feeling because the agent is responsible for most of it. It's dirty and lowdown. Sue has had a hard life. An early divorce and a mother who got into a lot of trouble took a toll. Life was hard for the girl. It keeps getting harder. Let us hope she manages to hold on. She loves her two children very much. Stay tuned.