Last week, at least seven women were sent to a local hospital for suspected drug overdoses, and the incarcerated women and attorneys say the conditions inside are chaotic, filthy and violent because of rampant abuse of a type of synthetic marijuana known as K2. The substance is especially popular in prison systems and jails across the country because it’s cheap, easy to smuggle, and doesn’t show up in routine urine screenings.
Catherine Sevcenko, senior counsel with the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, says she has been fielding regular emails from women at FCI Waseca about the drug problem there since at least last December. “The descriptions of being locked up with someone who is hallucinating, aggressive, unable to control their bodily functions, and ready to do anything to get their next high are horrifying,” she told Reason magazine.
Three women have died at FCI Waseca since 2023: two from suicide and one, Sevcenko alleges, from medical neglect. In February, Sevcenko sent a letter to the warden, detailing accounts from inside the prison about women smoking K2 and vomiting, having diarrhea, seizures, and hallucinations. Users became aggressive and paranoid. Addiction and drug debts were leading to violence and theft.
“We are living in pure chaos and have been for months on end, with no end in sight,” Holli Wrice, who is currently incarcerated at FCI Waseca, wrote to Reason in an email, which has been edited slightly for clarity. “Twelve women have been hospitalized. Two had to be resuscitated. Overall, 38 women fell out in six days, and there were numerous others who staff were not aware of that other inmates threw cold water on to bring them out of the state they were in.”
In May of last year, the Justice Department Office of the Inspector General released the results of an inspection of FCI Waseca. The report found that the prison is “generally well-run, with dedicated staff and an environment in which both inmates and staff generally reported feeling safe.”
However, the Inspector General also cited a “significant challenge limiting the amount of contraband in the institution, specifically drugs (synthetic cannabinoids and illicitly acquired opioid use disorder medication).” In addition, the report noted “serious facility issues,” such as roofs that routinely leak and women being housed in basement cells with beds next to leaking pipes.
A BOP spokesperson says an investigation into last week’s incidents at FCI Waseca is ongoing.