Private equity’s drug war profiteering

The report details private equity's role in profiting from drug policy in the U.S., specifically through the ownership of methadone clinics, the provision of healthcare and labor services in prisons, and the financing of the cannabis market. It argues that these firms often lobby against public health reforms and exploit incarcerated populations for cheap labor.

• Private equity firms own nearly one-third of U.S. methadone clinics and have lobbied against the "Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act," a bipartisan bill that would allow certified addiction doctors to prescribe methadone for pharmacy pickup, potentially increasing access for 43.5 million people.
• Private equity-owned correctional healthcare companies, specifically Wellpath and YesCare, have faced scrutiny for cost-cutting, understaffing, and providing inadequate care to incarcerated patients.
• Private equity firms utilize incarcerated labor through portfolio companies; for example, Borgman Capital owns Southeastern Meats, and H.I.G. Capital owns TKC Holdings (which owns Trinity Services Group), the latter of which uses over 7,500 offender workers to produce food in prisons.
• In New York City, the private equity firm Chicago Atlantic Group acts as a landlord and lender for cannabis dispensaries intended for people with drug convictions, using loan terms that include interest rates up to 18% upon default and the ability to seize properties.
• Private equity firms profit from the cannabis industry through adjacent security and enforcement services, such as BC Partners' GardaWorld providing armed transportation and Warburg Pincus' Allied Universal providing canine drug detection teams.

APA

Private Equity Stakeholder Project (2024). Private equity’s drug war profiteering. https://pestakeholder.org/news/private-equitys-drug-war-profiteering/

Chicago

Private Equity Stakeholder Project. Private equity’s drug war profiteering. 2024. https://pestakeholder.org/news/private-equitys-drug-war-profiteering/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Private Equity Stakeholder Project |title=Private equity’s drug war profiteering |date=29 July 2024 |url=https://pestakeholder.org/news/private-equitys-drug-war-profiteering/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{privateequitystakeholderproject2024private, author = {{Private Equity Stakeholder Project}}, title = {{Private equity’s drug war profiteering}}, institution = {Private Equity Stakeholder Project}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://pestakeholder.org/news/private-equitys-drug-war-profiteering/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }