At the Roanoke city jail that night, with every pore on her body aching and every muscle spasming, a female jailer greeted her with a tiny cup. “Here, take this,” the jailer instructed. The woman handed Tess the medicine, which had been ordered as a result of a routine urine screen. Inside the cup was a low dose of Tylenol with the opioid codeine. It was designed to keep the fetus growing inside Tess from going into sudden, potentially fatal opioid withdrawal. Twenty-five and five foot seven, Tess was down to 120 pounds. She hadn’t had a regular period in two years. She had no idea she was at
...more
