Carbon County's prison officials and the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission are hoping to secure funding for a pilot program to help inmates with opiate addiction.

On Wednesday, Jamie Drake of Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission approached the county prison board to ask for support in applying for a state grant to pay for Vivitrol injections for inmates who are being released from prison.The one-year grant, if Carbon is approved, would not cost the county anything.Vivitrol, which is also referred to as naltrexone, is a slow-release injection that lasts for 30 days and prevents relapses in opioid use in people who have been detoxed.Drake said that the goal of the pilot program is to target approximately 10-15 inmates that are determined to stay clean after incarceration and who have been approved through the current in-prison counselor.The injection would be given by a medical doctor a few days before release. The person would then receive an additional five injections of Vivitrol at Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission's Lehighton office over the next six months.Drake said that early studies have shown that people who used the injection have reported less cravings and a higher success rate of not using. This pilot program will help provide additional results, and possible additional funding for the future.She stressed that this drug is not for people who are not committed to staying clean.The medication's website says that if a person is still using or has any symptoms of withdrawal from opiates, they should not be given the drug. If they have Vivitrol in their system and use opioids of any type, they may have an accidental overdose, be seriously injured or die.Carbon County's Justice Advisory Board and state Rep. Doyle Heffley have already provided support letters for the grant, Drake told the board."Hopefully this will help the people who have fallen into the habit of opiate use," Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said.After a brief discussion, the board voted to support the application, which is due June 8.In other matters, Warden Timothy Fritz said that the prison received a donation of a Garmin GPS from Lehighton Ambulance for use in prison transports that are out of the area.The ambulance received new equipment and has been donating the old equipment to area organizations.