PA State Prisons End Lockdown After 83 Fall Ill

The lockdown of all Pennsylvania state prisons has been lifted after nearly two weeks, the Department of Corrections announced on Monday.

All told, more than 80 inmates and prison staff were sickened by illegal substances that were snuck into facilities across the state. An investigation revealed that many of the substances were identified as synthetic cannabinoids, a colorless and odorless drug that can be put on a piece of paper and clandestinely delivered to inmates in person or via mail.

During the 12-day lockdown initiated on Aug. 29, no visitors were allowed into any state prison facility, inmates were confined to their cells, and all DOC personnel underwent extensive safety training while the cause of the illnesses was investigated. Numerous new safety precautions have since been initiated.

>>Substance Leading To Lock Down Of PA State Prisons ID'd: DOC

In a statement, the Department of Corrections called the lockdown an "extraordinary step" to ensure the safety of both inmates and state employees.

"This has been a difficult time for staff who became ill by encountering suspected synthetic drugs while simply performing their jobs,” Corrections Secretary John Wetzel said in the statement. "It also has been a challenging time for all employees as they were called upon to perform various lockdown-related duties. I am proud of our staff and how they all pulled together as a team. The safety of our staff is paramount to the running of this prison system, so we took this time to calm the system and to train staff so they can remain safe while performing their jobs."

The victims included 50 state employees and 33 inmates, many of whom were sickened just by touching or being in close proximity to the substances.

Victims suffered headaches, nausea, lumps on their skin, dizziness, and various other symptoms. Synthetic cannabinoids, also known as "K2" or "spice," are a group of mass-produced, artificial drugs that have the same active component as natural marijuana, THC, but are radically different. Recently, the drug has caused serious epidemics, including an outbreak of 70 overdoses earlier this month in New Haven, Connecticut near Yale University.

Some of the new safety precautions include elimination of third-party mail processing, improved library system so more in-prison books are available to inmates, stricter penalties for inmates bringing in contraband, broader use of body scanners, and a new drug hotline that allows the public or inmates to report information about drugs in prisons.

Wetzel added that Monday marked the start of a "new normal" for Pennsylvania state prisons, but that the lockdown would be resumed if additional incidents or illnesses occurred.

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• Maryland Prisons Close To Visitors After PA, Ohio Lockdowns

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