9 Stillwater prison staff members hospitalized after possible drug exposure, DOC says
BAYPORT, Minn. — Minnesota Correctional Facility - Stillwater, the state's largest prison, is on temporary lockdown Thursday after several staff members were possibly exposed to synthetic drugs.
The Minnesota Department of Corrections says a staff member fell ill after encountering an inmate smoking something in his cell at about 7:45 a.m.
"The staff member experienced an adverse reaction that included lightheadedness, nausea, and an increased heart rate. He was taken by ambulance to Lakeview Hospital," the DOC said.
Six other staff members soon fell ill as well before another inmate in the same unit "threw a container with an unknown substance from his cell that landed near staff," the DOC said, leading to three more employees falling ill.
The DOC says a total of 10 staff members were exposed, with nine eventually treated and released from the hospital. One of the employees received Narcan.
The substance found on Thursday is still being tested, but the DOC says one of the inmates told staff he had "smoked a stronger-than-expected dose of synthetic K-2," also known as MDMB-4en-PINACA.
The DOC says the synthetic cannabinoid has been found "soaked into paper and dried" in previous cases inside the prison.
DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell says the prison will likely remain on lockdown through Saturday morning.
So far this year, the DOC says there have been about 70 cases of suspected overdoses in Minnesota prisons, with most leading to lockdowns that frustrate inmates and staff alike.
A WCCO investigation showed some facilities are changing how they process mail due to the threat of synthetic drugs. John Melvin, director of the DOC's office of special investigations, told WCCO in July that Narcan can be ineffective due to the synthetic nature of the drugs.
"(The drug) can be manufactured, it can be sprayed on and it dries, and then that piece of paper can be cut into small squares and ingested, usually through smoking," Melvin said. "They are making small devices like a cigarette and they're shoving it into the end of it and smoking it like a cigarette, then lighting it using the electrical outlet in their cells."
Melvin said MCF-Stillwater is among a trio of facilities piloting a new mail protocol, along with MCF-Faribault and MCF-Rush City, that includes inmates receiving photocopies of their mail.
While he predicts the new system may be able to stop up to 90% of hazardous mail, he noted that it could take some time before inmates consume the drugs that have already infiltrated the facilities.
The president of AFSCME Local 915, the union representing correctional officers at MCF-Oak Park Heights, said incidents like the one at Stillwater are "all too common" and called for "urgent and immediate action" to stop drugs from coming into facilities through the mail.
