SHELTON, Wash. -- It’s small, flat and valuable within prison walls. Those are all reasons why Suboxone, a prescription painkiller meant for heroin and opioid addicts, is the most commonly found contraband drug at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton.
“It’s taken off, it’s big,” said Department of Corrections investigator Jeff Ellison.
Instead of a pill or a liquid, Suboxone comes in a paper-thin tablet.
Ellison said if Suboxone gets into the prison it sells for around $100 for a postage stamp-sized dose.
He said it’s most often smuggled into prison through the mail.
Since Suboxone strips can be cut up, Ellison said it’s easy to hide it beneath a stamp or within the border of an envelope. That’s why mail room inspectors now take a close look at envelopes before any inmate gets to see their mail.
“We’re not fortunate to catch it all, but we’re very good at it,” said Ellison.
