“When they give me positive doors to walk through, I’m going to keep choosing those doors”: An Interview with Gordon Perry

More than 1.8 million people are currently incarcerated in the United States. More than half of them meet the criteria for opioid use disorder (OUD), but most do not have access to gold-standard medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), such as methadone and buprenorphine.

These medicines can be lifesaving and very effective for long-term recovery, creating pathways to stability, education, employment, behavioral health services, and other opportunities.  

To better understand the impacts of access to MOUD inside a prison setting, Safer From Harm’s Jessica Shortall talked to Gordon Perry, a resident at the Maine State Prison, about his journey.

Shortall: Gordon, you’ve described your past self as someone who was “ruled by addiction.” What did that mean for you?

Perry: Drugs ruled most of my life. It was addiction—and the irrational, destructive behavior that came with it—that led me to make the biggest mistake of my life, after five days of no sleep, doing so many drugs I couldn’t think straight anymore. I came to prison in 1997 after a laundry list of felony charges including Armed Career Criminal and Capital Murder of a New Hampshire police officer.

I live with these consequences every day and I’ll never make excuses. But it is sad to think back about the system I lived in that did not believe in treatments like MOUD. That’s why I am passionate about speaking to change MOUD into a tool that is more accessible.

Jessica Shortall: When you entered prison, you didn’t have access to MOUD treatment. What was life like for you at that time?

Perry: We had almost nothing to treat addiction, for close to my first two decades. Life was a waste of time. We weren't treated like human beings but more like enemies, which caused a chain reaction of hatred. People did drugs just to deal with the atmosphere inside prison.

Guys mainly spent their days plotting how to get high any way possible. This led to a ton of violence, which we all got caught up in and participated in one way or another. The dope game leads to constant violence, and to overdoses and death, which I have seen way too much of over the last 30 years behind bars!

I don’t know if there’s anybody inside here who has more time in Seg (editor’s note: solitary confinement, colloquially known as Segregation or Seg) than me. In 2014, a PBS television crew did a documentary on solitary confinement. I had been in Seg for more than a year, longer than anyone else at the time, so I was part of the plot of the film.

Shortall: A while after that, changes were made at Maine State Prison. We heard about some of these from Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner Randall Liberty in our recent virtual event. Can you talk about those?

Perry: Liberty became the Department of Corrections Commissioner in 2019 and started the Maine Model of Corrections. The prison began to offer medication-assisted treatment (i.e., MOUD) in 2020-2021, along with access to mental health care and educational programs.

Shortall: How did those changes affect you?

Perry: I finally won the battle with my opioid addiction, thanks to the MOUD suboxone (Editor’s note: suboxone is a medication that includes the MOUD buprenorphine). I’m on an upswing which I never thought could be the case after feeling lost and hopeless. I started taking college classes at the University of Maine at Augusta. My day doesn’t revolve around trying to get high; it revolves around doing good things that make meaningful impacts in people’s lives.

I haven’t been down to Seg for many years. People here say I’m kind and respectful. They wouldn’t have said that about me when I was on drugs.

Shortall: On top of the day-to-day, are there big picture impacts for you that access to MOUD has made possible?

Perry: The Maine Model of Corrections approach didn’t just stabilize me — it gave me a way forward. I began writing, learning, and developing digital media skills. I’m taking classes and doing video work to promote positive change inside the prison. I recently created videos for a Reentry Banking and Financing Seminar and for a Juneteenth event hosted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which I’ve proudly been a member of for many years. I want to do things that are going to make a positive impact. When they give me positive doors to walk through, I’m going to keep choosing those doors.

Shortall: Before these changes were made, were there things that you did to try to manage your substance use disorder?

Perry: When there is nothing around to make a change, the dope manages you and you will do basically anything for it. Fighting it cold turkey is nearly impossible. Back in 2008-2009, when suboxone first came around as something you could buy illegally in the prison, I used that. It was very expensive—up to $800 for a strip—and with that illegal trade comes all kinds of negative things.

Shortall: Do you see that kind of illegal use of MOUD in the prison today?

Perry: No, there’s no market because anyone who needs it can get it as a medication. If you open up access, there’s no black market for it. Making it available also ended the violence that played a huge role in illegal suboxone coming into the prison in those ugly days.

Shortall: Have you seen any broader impacts on the environment in the Maine State Prison?

Perry: When these changes were offered, most of us changed for the better. Staff is safer, residents are safer. Violence in the prison has gone down. Things are not always great, but people are taking advantage of the programs like college and medication-assisted treatment and they are not coming back (to the prison) so fast anymore. I also don’t hear about as much overdose deaths as I did in the past.

Shortall: What do you want to do next?

Perry: I want to jump into a project as a remote job opportunity. I think video work is my best asset to a team, but I do have a decent head on my shoulders. I figure if I build up my first client on a level they never imagined possible my work ethic and outcomes will get me a big league job.