An essay by an incarcerated writer, Derek Jason LeCompte, published by Prison Journalism Project, argues that prisons should adopt harm-reduction strategies for the synthetic cannabinoid K2, including allowing the use of organic marijuana. LeCompte, who writes that he has been incarcerated for 27 years, describes K2 use in New Jersey prisons and cites reporting that K2 deaths in Texas rose from 16 in 2023 to 65 in 2024, according to the Texas Observer.
Essay by incarcerated writer Derek LeCompte calls for prison harm reduction as K2 deaths rise
An essay by an incarcerated writer, Derek Jason LeCompte, published by Prison Journalism Project, argues that prisons should adopt harm-reduction strategies for the synthetic cannabinoid K2, including allowing the use of organic marijuana. LeCompte, who writes that he has been incarcerated for 27 years, describes K2 use in New Jersey prisons and cites reporting that K2 deaths in Texas rose from 16 in 2023 to 65 in 2024, according to the Texas Observer.
LeCompte writes that he returned to his cell to find his cellmate babbling with a "spaced-out look" and the smell of burnt paper strong enough that his eyes watered. He says he watched him for about 30 minutes to make sure he did not die of an overdose or attack him because he was too intoxicated to know what was happening, and that such scenes are common in New Jersey prisons.
The essay says that in recent months prisoners received multiple memos from the state prison commissioner's office urging them not to smoke K2 and to report people to medical personnel or guards if they appear to need help. One state prison official called K2 "a serious problem," according to the essay, which says LeCompte had not seen a substance as unregulated, widely used and dangerous as K2 in his 27 years incarcerated.
No comprehensive database tracks K2 deaths in prison, the essay says, and it attributes to conservative estimates the suggestion that the drug fuels dozens of fatal overdoses across the country each year. It cites the Texas Observer for K2 deaths in Texas rising from 16 in 2023 to 65 in 2024; the Miami Herald for Florida prisons attributing a large share of 62 "accidental deaths" from 2016 to 2017 to K2 overdoses; and The Marshall Project for K2 overdose deaths in Ohio rising from three in 2023 to 13 in 2024.
LeCompte cites a 2022 study led by researchers at Washington State University that found a 37 percent drop in "poisoning reports for illicit synthetic cannabinoids" in states that had legalized marijuana use, and says the study reported that severe medical complications can be avoided when people have a safer option. He notes that marijuana is legal in New Jersey and sold through regulated dispensaries; that a multitude of county jails and prisons across the United States offer alternatives such as commissary vape pens for smokers and Suboxone as a treatment for opioids; and that prisons in Germany, Switzerland and Spain have offered safe needle exchange programs without drug use increasing. He argues edible marijuana products would not violate federal anti-smoking laws or affect air quality, and that states have used medical marijuana to taper people off opioids and ease the comedown from stimulants such as methamphetamine, though he calls this not a long-term solution.
The version of the story supplied closes with a request for monthly Patreon support for Marijuana Moment, which describes its coverage as cannabis advocacy journalism. The essay states that it was originally published by Prison Journalism Project.
- The source does not name the state prison official who described K2 as "a serious problem" or identify the officials who issued the memos from the state prison commissioner's office.
- The source does not state the origin of the conservative estimates that K2 fuels dozens of fatal overdoses across the country each year.
- The source does not state the sample size, methodology, or peer-review status of the 2022 Washington State University study it cites.
- The source does not state whether New Jersey prison or corrections officials have considered or responded to the proposal to allow marijuana in prisons.
- The source does not state the date the essay was published or the dates of the memos it describes.
- The source renders the Texas Observer as "Te x as Observer"; the publication's name appears to contain a typographical error.
Read the original at Marijuana Moment