Albuquerque's Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) has begun offering buprenorphine management treatment to prisoners for a variety of opioid addictions, according to a report by KRQE.

The county will spend around $812,000 on the program, which will be funded primarily through gross receipt taxes.

The program's importance was emphasized by Margarita Chavez Sanchez, director of Behavioral Health Services.

“Just like somebody needing insulin when they go to the jail, buprenorphine and medicated assisted treatment should not be seen as any different,” Sanchez told KRQE.

Chavez also confirmed that the county already provides methadone to prisoners and has done so for years.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recommends that buprenorphine should be prescribed in conjunction with counseling and other behavioral therapies.

MDC will provide the treatments exclusively to prisoners who are already using the substance.