The top ten reasons to limit prescription of controlled substances in prisons.

Implementation of a treatment protocol for prescribing stimulant medications in adult prisons where such a protocol and oversight did not previously exist is prudent management, clinically relevant, and appropriate. There are multiple challenges to using controlled substances in correctional settings, many of them a consequence of the very high prevalence of substance use disorders among inmates. This article describes 10 of the reasons to limit the prescription of controlled substances in prison, among them the implications for nursing and correctional security staff and the overwhelming of the already limited psychiatric resources available in most prisons.