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Lessons Learned As A Drug Dealer In Federal Prison

It’s that time of year again! The next two days we’ll be blogging from GovLoop and YGL’s Next Generation of Government Training Summit. Follow along @NextGenGov and read more blog posts here.

It’s usually an unfortunate story to hear about a commissioned officer who ends up in federal prison…unless you’re Dr. Quinn Bott.

Serving as a pharmacist and an officer, Dr. Quinn ‘deals drugs’ to over 2,100 inmates at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Dr. Quinn says he is one of the many soldiers in an ongoing war against some of our worst enemies: tobacco, heart disease, obesity, depression and other mental illnesses.

Working for the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Quinn touts the agency as being the only uniformed service dedicated solely to improve public health. Their mantra is to protect, promote, and advance the safety of our nation. They do so by targeting those most in need. Crime and violence are like a virus in the way it spreads. The HHS is looking for a vaccine.

Dr. Quinn lists his reasons why our prison and healthcare system are in need of reform:

-Half of those in prison meet the standards for a mental illness diagnosis. Most of them will be mistreated.

-Too frequently, an inmate’s first experience with the prison system is also their first encounter with the health care system.

-America has more people incarcerated than any other country…by far.

-95% of inmates will eventually return to their community and lack the proper tools to reemerge as a contributing citizen.

If Dr. Quinn can convince just one inmate to take their medicine each day and follow their doctor’s orders then maybe they’re one step closer to following the law.

Dr. Quinn’s goal is to do our job so well that prisons close and to work so hard that he’s out of a job.

Dr. Quinn is crossing his fingers that he wakes up tomorrow without a job.

More information on NextGen

Today GovLoop and Young Government Leaders are hosting their annual Next Generation of Government Leaders Summit. Throughout the summit, be sure to check GovLoop and our social media sites to keep up with all the latest from the summit. We’re really excited about this year – and hope to share the experience with all of you.

If you’re unfamiliar with NextGen, the annual training summit educates, inspires and promotes innovation for new and rising leaders in government. Since 2010, the two-day summit has enhanced the professional and personal lives of 2,000+ Generation X and Y government employees, who are excited to learn new skills to innovate.

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