Visit with the Inmates

Yesterday evening I spent 2 hours touring a Maryland state prison and another hour sitting in a room talking about life with three inmates. This has become somewhat of an annual trip for me. Since my second year in pharmacy school I have been working with a professor and correctional officer staff to faciliate tours and "meet-n-greets" with inmates serving time for substance abuse and related crimes. While we were being oriented to the facility, one of the officers left the room and informed the other officer to keep us in the building until after 7pm. We soon learned that there had been a serious stabbing in one of the housing units and we were being held in the building for our own safety. After the inmate was secured in the infirmiry, we were escorted into the common yard and began a tour of the facility. There's something almost taboo about walking beside a convicted murderer. I enjoy the tour because it really strips away all the stereotypes of "prison life" in the US. There is no cable television or air conditioning. It's hot, it stinks, it's boring. It's not easy time. We spoke with three inmates about the role substance abuse has played in their lives. The first inmate has been incarcerated since 1984 for attempted first degree murder and armed robbery. He was Sugar Ray Leonard's sparring partner and an up and coming star when he made the decision to do drugs. From that point on, his life was a downward sprial. He is a true "fall from grace" story. The second inmate was 22 and has been incarcerated since 1999 for drug charges. The third inmate was a happily married, successful man with a wife, house, three cars, and an all around good life. He wanted to live like he had a million dollars and consequently got into the drug scene. He's never seen his daughter outside of prison bars, who was born shortly after he was incarcerated. She's now 6 years old. The most moving thing about our conversations was basically, we're all just one move away from falling from grace. Their message - stay focused. When you're focused on a destination, you won't fall. Lose your focus, and the fall is imminent. The other point that stuck with me was one inmate's description of friends:

"There are two types of friends. The first type will get under your wings and help you soar. The second type will sit on your wings and run you right into the ground."

Ain't that the truth? I really didn't have to go to prison to learn that, but at least now I have a really cool quote to explain it. :)