Corrections_Today_May_June_2020_Vol.82_No.3

Health Care Special Session & Luncheon “The opposite of addiction is relationship” Judge Duane Slone speaks about the opioid crisis at the Health Care Special Session and Luncheon

O n Jan. 11 th , the ACA Winter Conference held its Health Care Special Session and Luncheon for the benefit of the correctional health professionals attending the conference. Sponsored by Centurion, the luncheon began with the introduction of the ACA Executive Committee by James A. Gondles, Jr. Afterwards, Charlie Gee, director of business development for Centurion, introduced the featured speaker, Duane Slone, J.D.

Slone is a former drug trafficking prosecutor who cofounded Tennessee’s 4 th judicial district’s Drug Recovery Court. He is also chairman of the 8 State Appalachian-Midwest Regional Judicial Opioid Initiative and the 2019 recipient of the National Center for State Courts’ William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence. After the introduction, Slone began his presentation, entitled “Addressing the Opioid and Mental Illness Driven Addiction Crisis: Maximizing Opportunities with the justice Involved Popula- tion and Beyond.” Slone spoke about how the Drug Recovery Court began in 2009. Part of the inspiration to do so was when Slone and his wife adopted a child in 2011 whose mother was an opioid addict. The

70 — May/June 2020 Corrections Today