Politics
It’s Time to Allow Marijuana Use in Prison (Op-Ed)
“The K2 crisis in prisons has made me realize it is not realistic to eradicate all illegal drug usage behind bars. Instead, we should find strategies for safe and responsible harm reduction.”
By Derek Jason LeCompte, Prison Journalism Project
This story was originally published by Prison Journalism Project.
I entered my cell and found my cellmate babbling, a spaced-out look in his eyes. The pungent scent of burnt paper was overwhelming. My eyes watered. I monitored his high for about 30 minutes to make sure he did not die of an overdose or attack me because he was too intoxicated to know what was happening.
Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common occurrence in New Jersey prisons. It stems from a type of synthetic cannabinoid known as K2.
K2 usage has become what one state prison official called “a serious problem.” In recent months, we have received multiple memos outlining this fact from the state prison commissioner’s office, which has urged prisoners not to smoke K2, and to report people to medical personnel or guards if they appear to need help. Never in my 27 years incarcerated have I seen a substance as unregulated, widely used and dangerous as K2.
No comprehensive database tracks K2 deaths in prison, but conservative estimates suggest the drug is fueling dozens of fatal overdoses across the country each year. According to the Texas Observer, K2 deaths in the Lone Star State rose from 16 in 2023 to 65 in 2024. From 2016 to 2017, Florida prisons attributed a large share of its 62 “accidental deaths” to K2 overdoses, as highlighted in the Miami Herald. And reporting from The Marshall Project found that K2 overdose deaths in Ohio rose from three in 2023 to 13 in 2024.
The K2 crisis in prisons has made me realize it is not realistic to eradicate all illegal drug usage behind bars. Instead, we should find strategies for safe and responsible harm reduction, including allowing the use of organic marijuana.
A legal alternative
Marijuana is legal in New Jersey, and dispensaries across the state operate in a highly regulated environment. Additionally, a multitude of county jails and prisons throughout the United States offer alternatives with a similar philosophy—like “vape pens” sold at commissaries as an alternative for smokers, or Suboxone as an alternative treatment to opioids. In other countries, such as Germany, Switzerland and Spain, prisons have offered safe needle exchange programs as a way to stop the spread of disease (and the use of drugs has not increased with the implementation of those programs).
A 2022 study, led by researchers at Washington State University, hints at the possible benefits of allowing marijuana use inside prisons. It found a 37 percent drop in “poisoning reports for illicit synthetic cannabinoids”—that is, K2—in states that had legalized marijuana use. As the study reported, when people have a safer option, severe medical complications can be avoided.
While this is not a long-term solution to stemming drug use, states have used medical marijuana as a form of harm reduction to taper people off of opioids and ease the comedown off stimulants like methamphetamine.
In the case of prisons, edible marijuana products would not violate federal anti-smoking laws nor jeopardize air quality. Right now, guards and prisoners must put up with the strong smoke and odor from K2, which people consume every day. The scent—like the smell of trash from a nearby landfill—lingers in our living quarters.
A dangerous addiction
A man who goes by Fastlane said it’s hard to end a K2 addiction. As soon as he’s done smoking, his body demands more.
“It got my head messed up, and I can always get my hands on it,” Fastlane said. “If there was something else that wouldn’t hurt me as much, I’d use that. But there isn’t.”
