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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Over the wall or through the staff room? Eric Allison The Guardian Monday 31 Jul 2006 A leaked report into the prison service, accusing 1,000 officers of corruption, will not raise many eyebrows among those acquainted with the workings of British prisons. In the last year, three prison governors have told me that the majority of illegal drugs, and virtually all of the mobile phones in their jails, were brought in by staff. But even without that inside knowledge, common sense dictates that corrupt staff must be, in part, responsible for the illicit material that makes its way into our overcrowded jails. The security procedures involved in the visiting of inmates are so stringent that only minimal amounts of contraband could possibly get in by that route. All visitors undergo body searches, including an inspection of their mouths and the removal of shoes. They also pass through airport-style metal detectors and are subject to inspection by dog-handlers, on their way to the visiting rooms. The rooms themselves are monitored by CCTV cameras. Recently, the BBC put out a daily programme from Cardiff jail. Viewers saw a female visitor go through the intensive searching process. The presenter then spoke to an officer leading a cell search team and asked him what their main finds were. "Mobile phones," he replied. He went on to say that they find dozens each year. The next question ought to have been, "How are they getting in?" It was not asked. Another officer said that drugs were smuggled in using a variety of methods, including concealing them in tennis balls (and in a dead pigeon on one occasion) and throwing them over the wall, into the exercise yard. Utter nonsense of course. A parcel of class A drugs costs a lot of money. Are we seriously expected to believe that such a valuable package would be thrown over the wall in the hope of it reaching its intended recipient, in a prison inhabited by hundreds of drug users? The truth is that drugs and mobile phones are desirable and valuable objects for prisoners, and there will always be staff prepared to take a risk for a large reward. And this does not just apply to the prison officers. Thousands of non-uniformed staff go in and out of the prison system every day. Of course, inmates do occasionally smuggle drugs inside themselves. If a criminal is expecting a sentence and is on bail, then a parcel can be "plugged" (inserted in the rectum) and retrieved on the other side of the wall. Prison staff have been well aware of the practice for some time. Phil Wheatley, director general of the prison service, responded to the report by asserting that escapes are down, along with positive drug tests. He is right about escapes, but he is deluding himself about the Mandatory Drug Tests (MDTs). He accepts that there are corrupt staff, but then claims that drug use is on the decline. The truth is that MDT figures are routinely rigged. The tests are supposed to be random, but in fact many drugs teams will deliberately test known non-users, to keep their positive numbers down. Our jails are awash with heroin and ironically, the introduction of MDTs in the 1990s, is largely responsible. Cannabis used to be the drug of choice for most prisoners. But it stays in the bloodstream for 28 days. Heroin remains for just three days. Prisoners have switched to smack en-masse, resulting in our prisons becoming far more volatile and dangerous places. - Eric Allison is the Guardian's prisons correspondent
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