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UK: Drug use rife in prisons

Andrew Denholm Home Affairs Correspondent

The Scotsman

Monday 26 Aug 2002

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ALMOST 60 per cent of Scotland's prison population have admitted taking
drugs while behind bars, according to an internal survey passed to The
Scotsman.

The Scottish Prison Service study, carried out in May and June , found
that 57 per cent of Scotland's 6,600 inmates said they had used illegal
drugs.

Of the drugs used, cannabis was the most prevalent, at 75 per cent, but
heroin and other opiates were the second largest group, on 69 per cent.

While only 38 per cent of prisoners reported using drugs during the
months of the survey, of the 8 per cent who had injected heroin, 92 per
cent said they had shared needles.

However, there were some positives for the SPS. Of the 57 per cent who
admitted taking drugs, half said they had received help from prison
staff, while 80 per cent said their drug use had decreased during their
sentence.

Last night, opposition politicians and drug awareness groups said the
findings were "extremely worrying" and called for the SPS to strengthen
procedures to prevent drugs getting into prisons.

They also questioned current drug testing rules, claiming they could
make heroin appear more acceptable to prisoners than cannabis, because
it stays in the bloodstream for a far shorter time.

However, the SPS said drug problems in prison simply reflected those in
society.

Roseanna Cunnninghame, the SNP's justice spokeswoman, said: "It is
obviously of great concern that drugs are getting into prisons so
easily."

Lord James Douglas Hamilton, Conservative justice spokesman, added: "Top
priority should be given to preventing hard drugs getting into prisons,
not just through searches but through the use of other measures, such as
sniffer dogs."

Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drug Misuse
Research at Glasgow University, said the prison service should consider
providing equipment to allow inmates to sterilise needles.

A spokeswoman for the SPS said: "We operate a number of initiatives
including drug free areas, education programmes and random drug tests."



 

 

 

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