JASPER, Ala. — Megan Dunn, who has struggled with addiction since her teens, points to the moment her life went “deeply downhill.”
Preston was born at 19 years old, after she dropped out of high-school. Dunn claimed that six weeks after his death, Preston died from sudden infant mortality syndrome.
“From then on, I went into this, like, PTSD, depression,” said Dunn, now 28.
Shortly after the baby’s death, Dunn said, she started using pain pills again. Eventually, Dunn said, she got arrested on charges relating to her illicit drug usage, including trespassing. She said she has had more than 30 stays in Walker County’s jail, a brick building in downtown Jasper. Dunn claimed that she was forced to undergo drug withdrawals in her cell, without any medical attention, each time.
“I was literally praying to God to end me,” Dunn said about the pain and despair she felt.
Drug addicts are often locked up in U.S. prisons, and they’re left to suffer withdrawals in concrete cells instead of medical facilities. That’s especially true in Alabama, which has some of the toughest drug laws in the country. In 2021, more than 5,000 people in Alabama were arrested on drug charges. More than 90% of these arrests were for possession rather than…
