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SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Inmates in two of Vermont's prisons are now getting on-site medical treatment for addiction to heroin or other opiates.
Instead of being taken in handcuffs and shackles to an off-site treatment center, inmates will receive treatment at the South Burlington and Rutland prisons. And instead of 30 days, the new program will run for 90 days.
Corrections Commissioner Andy Pallito tells WPTZ-TV (http://bit.ly/12p0tRS ) the old way of trucking the inmates away was "inhumane" and expensive.
About 70 to 80 percent of all Vermont's inmates are in prison because of drug-related problems.
Gov. Peter Shumlin made the fight against heroin and opiate addiction the focus of his State of the State address this year as the problem exploded in the state.
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