Chautauqua County has added a new tool in its battle to help residents overcome drug addiction and to keep people from re-offending once they are released from the Chautauqua County Jail.

Last week, Sheriff Joe Gerace said the jail had successfully implemented the first of a multi-step re-entry program using the drug Vivitrol, a medication designed to help prevent people who have abused drug and alcohol to relapse. Vivitrol was recently administered to an inmate at the Chautauqua County Jail to help curb opioid cravings in addition to a treatment program that includes behavioral therapy, counseling and support programs outside confinement. The person had completed the first step of the re-entry program.

County officials applied to be part of a pilot program to use Vivitrol. The drug will not be given to all inmates battling an opioid addiction; jail staff, which includes nurses and counselors housed in the facility, review each candidate as part of the re-entry program.

The re-entry program could well save the county the cost of housing inmates and make our county a safer place to live if it lessens the number of addicts committing crimes to pay for their drug addiction. The downside is the drug’s cost; Vivitrol costs between $550 and $1,500 per shot, according to newspaper reports in other areas that have used the drug. Vivitrol also only works for one month per dose, though that initial dose gives a former inmate time to find stable housing and a job without feeling opioid cravings. There also may be insurance that can cover the Vivitrol while the former inmate completes treatment.

It will be interesting to see how well the pilot program works as county officials document what happens to the former inmates who get the injections. Vivitrol is not a panacea for the county’s opioid addiction problems, but it could prove to be an important tool.