Inspector backs TV and film ‘rewards’ for drug-free prisoners

REWARDS of extra television channels and more movies as an incentive to inmates trying to kick drug habits have been backed by the Inspector of Prisons.

Measures such as reward systems to curb the scourge of drug use behind bars seem “well founded”, said Mr Justice Dermot Kinlen, after he inspected Weatfield Prison.

Prisoners themselves made the suggestion after complaining that the only incentive given to them so far, to stay off drugs, was a basic kitchen appliance.

“They said the fact that they had a toaster, unlike other prisoners, was really not enough incentive,” the inspector reported.

“Every incentive should be used to get rid of the habit or at least to strengthen the drug addict’s resolve to kick the habit,” he said.

Weatfield management have informed Mr Kinlen that extra movies and television channels are now being awarded to inmates.

Two units in Weatfield currently house 16 drug-free inmates each, including former users and those who have never used drugs.

Inmates who want to go clean must provide a urine sample as proof.

Illegal substances, meanwhile, are often smuggled into prison by visitors. In one case, a female visitor was found with €1,000 of heroin concealed in her mouth. Court trips, meanwhile, also provide inmates with an opportunity to pick up drugs. Sniffer dogs were used in one jail to detect illegal drugs.

Outside Weatfield’s walls, gardaí have been cracking down on people lobbing drugs over the walls. A garda had his arm broken in a confrontation with one such operation, carried out by men on motorbikes wearing balaclavas.

Prison doctors have also expressed concern about ‘hooch’ made behind bars. Hooch or moonshine can be secretly made from root vegetables, such as potatoes, by prisoners.