Jonathan Kirkpatrick

Jonathan covers harm reduction and re-entry. He’s incarcerated at Washington Corrections Center, where he’s a Teacher’s Assistant for re-entry workshops and trains peer educators in HIV and hepatitis C harm reduction. His Washington State Department of Corrections job is crafting quilts out of recycled materials to donate to nonprofits for fundraising. His writing has been published by the Appeal, Truthout, Jewish Currents and the Seattle Journal for Social Justice. His ID number in WDOC is #716850, and until WDOC corrects a 28-year-old paperwork error his name in Securus is “Jonathon.”

Spokane Eyes Involuntary Treatment for Anyone Revived With Naloxone

The City Council of Spokane, Washington, has proposed that being administered naloxone should be automatic grounds for mandatory treatment. If…

March 27, 2024

A Life and Death Sentence at Walla Walla, Recounted 50 Years Later

[Read Part 1 of this story here] For a few months in 2019, Don Snook, 71, was transferred to Washington…

February 20, 2024

“Fifty Years Just Ain’t Enough”: Dying in Prison, and Still Denied Release

Donald Snook, 70, has 38 plants in his cell in Washington Corrections Center (WCC). It looks like a jungle. There’s…

February 14, 2024

Naltrexone as Opioid Treatment: Who Does It Work For, Besides Cops?

Of the three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), two have been shown to reduce rates…

December 22, 2023

Harm Reduction for Short-Term Meth Withdrawal

Withdrawal from opioids is so thoroughly studied that the process is regularly referenced in media and pop culture. Many symptoms…

December 14, 2023

WA Prisons Still Using Drug Test Kits at Center of False-Positives Lawsuit

Sabastian Johnson had been unsuccessfully trying to get copies of a legal document related to his case into Washington Corrections…

December 4, 2023

We’ll Know Harm Reduction Is Mainstream Once Dr. Fauci Likes It

In 2018, the syringe service program (SSP) in Cabell County, West Virginia, was shuttered by the local health department. By…

November 27, 2023

Tennessee’s HIV Sex Offender Law Discourages Testing, Not Transmission

In the mid-'90s at Washington State Penitentiary, a corrections officer (CO) and I had been yelling at each other for…

November 2, 2023

Fentanyl Isn’t Being Cut Into the Cocaine Supply. Here’s Why.

Over the course of my 28 years in prison, I've known a lot of people who sold drugs. I sold…

October 31, 2023

WA Prisons Clear All Guards to Carry Narcan. Not All Intend to Do So.

Washington State Department of Corrections (WDOC) staff are now permitted to carry Narcan while on duty. Though the change is…

October 4, 2023