Acknowledgments

This report was researched and written by Megan McLemore, Researcher in the Health and Human Rights division of Human Rights Watch.  Joseph Amon, director of the Health and Human Rights division, Rebecca Schleifer, Advocate in the Health and Human Rights division, and Diederik Lohman, Senior Researcher in the Health and Human Rights division made significant contributions during the editing process. The report was reviewed by David Fathi, director of the US Program, Jamie Fellner, Special Counsel to the US Program, Aisling Reidy, Senior Legal Advisor, and Iain Levine, Program Director at Human Rights Watch. Support was provided by intern Emily Dauria. Production assistance was provided by Mignon Lamia, Grace Choi and Fitzroy Hepkins.

The author would like to extend special thanks to Karen Murtagh-Monks of Prisoners' Legal Services of New York, Ed Wasserman, Jack Beck of the Correctional Association of New York, Karima Amin of Prisoners are People Too, Sharon Stancliff of the Harm Reduction Coalition, Holly Catania of the International Center for Advanced Addiction Treatment, Patricia Warth of the Center for Community Alternatives, The Fortune Society, and Bruce Trigg of the New Mexico Department of Health, each of whom provided invaluable assistance and support.

Most of all, many thanks to the current and former prisoners who were courageous enough to share their experiences for this report.