Federal prison FAQ # Drugs and contraband What is available, what it costs you, and what happens when it lands on you. Prison is not the rehab facility society seems to think it is. What's around ## The compound pharmacy ### Should I smoke K2? No. ### What is K2 and why is it everywhere? K2 (a dangerous smuggled synthetic drug) is marketed as synthetic marijuana and is probably closer to rat poison. It is disgusting, it is addictive, and it is cheap for whoever is selling it, which is why it is everywhere. It adds up fast, both in what it costs you and in what it does to people. It is the most common cause of medical emergencies you will see inside. ### Can I drink? What's hooch? Sure. Hooch (a shared meal built from commissary) is toilet booze. ### What if I'm in recovery and it's everywhere? I am sorry. Prison is not the rehab facility society seems to think it is, and the availability inside will surprise you. What is there: NA and AA groups run at most facilities, and RDAP (a drug program that can cut up to a year) if you qualify. Neither is what you would get outside. Both are better than nothing and both give you somewhere to be. ### Can I get my regular prescription in there? Partly. There is a formulary of approved medications and some room around the edges. Stimulants are not on it. If you have been on something long-term, it is not especially abusable, and they are not giving it to you, have your people [contact me](/contact) and I will walk them through the steps that actually make an institution listen. When it lands on you ## Testing, phones, and getting paid in the wrong currency ### Do they drug test? How often? Yes, at random, maybe once a week or so, hitting something like five percent of a unit. Some people are on lists and get tested far more. ### What happens if I fail a UA? I never had one, so this is secondhand. It is a shot (a disciplinary write-up), with the usual sanctions attached — good time, privileges, potentially the SHU (solitary). Enforcement is uneven. Officers know perfectly well that tests get gamed and their appetite for pursuing it varies by facility and by day. ### What happens if I get caught with a phone? You go to the SHU for at least thirty days and you get a shot. You will likely lose phone privileges for at least thirty days on top of that. The written version is worse than the practical one. A phone is charged as possession of a hazardous tool, code 108, which sits in the greatest severity tier. Under 28 C.F.R. 541.3, that tier carries a good conduct time disallowance of ordinarily 27 to 41 days, disciplinary segregation of up to twelve months, and loss of privileges. A disciplinary transfer is a live possibility on top of all of it. Run that arithmetic against whatever the call was worth. [What conflict costs](/going-in/while-youre-in/what-conflict-costs) does the same math for a different twenty seconds. ### What if I'm clean and someone plants something on me? Chances are extremely low. This is a fear, not a pattern. ### What if someone owes me and pays me in dope? Don't take it. You have just converted a money problem into a contraband problem, and the sanction for the contraband is now yours rather than theirs. Tell them to pay you on the books next commissary. This is one specific case of a general rule, and the general rule is [the debt chapter](/going-in/while-youre-in/debt). Next section — part 5 of 16 ### [Phones, mail, and communication](/going-in/faq/phones-mail-and-communication) Three hundred minutes, five cents a minute, and every word of it recorded. How contact actually works, and the specific ways it breaks. For your people ## Hand the rest of this site to your family You will not be able to look things up once you're inside. They can, and this is where: [everything written for the one waiting](/for-families) — a twelve-part guide to mail, visiting, money, and your release date, plus their own FAQ and checklist. Alongside it, a [guide to every facility](/resources/facilities) with [email alerts when visiting stops](/lockdown-alerts/subscribe), the [support group directory](/resources/support-groups), calculators for your release math, and [free answers](/contact) when they have questions. Send them the link before you report, not after they can't reach you. **Need help with this? Just ask.** These pages cover the general rules. Your situation has details they don't. Email me a question. **Answers are free** , and "you don't need to pay anyone for this" is my most common answer. [josh@federalprisondude.com](mailto:josh@federalprisondude.com?subject=FAQ%20question) I answer in the order received, usually within a couple of days. I have a day job. If your situation genuinely needs more than an email, I take a limited number of consults, so say so and we'll work it out.