Prisons will be ‘nastier’ under plans to tackle drugs

PRISONS will become “nastier” places under Government plans for drug-free jails, a new report warned yesterday.

Politicians and prison bosses were to blame for the growing scourge of drug abuse behind bars, which was possibly “worse than ever”, said a campaign group.

The review of drug usage, supplies, prevention and treatments in jails was carried out by the Drug Policy Action Group, an organisation made up of academics and drug-help groups.

Its damning conclusions fly in the face of Government plans to wipe out illegal substance abuse in jails.

The report calls for more emphasis on educational and occupational needs of inmates, rather than planned tough screening and testing measures which could see jails become a “hothouse” for staff and prisoners alike.

“The realities of prison life mean that, for many prisoners, drugs are never more attractive and available than in prison,” said report author and criminologist Paul O’Mahony.

Looking at risks associated with drugs in jails, including disease, suicide and violence, the report noted a failed promise made by former Justice Minister Michael McDowell in 2004 to make jails drug-free within 18 months.

Politicians often launched plans to hit problems with “newly minted determination”, but it was important past mistakes were not repeated, said the research.

The criminal justice and prison systems had played a “pernicious role” in the spread of drug-related harm in Ireland, it added. Previously failed policies had “aggravated” the scourge of drugs, claimed the report.

The report said prison bosses were aware of the seriousness of drug use in jails since research done in the 1980s. Mountjoy and other Dublin jails were “the epicentre of destructive drug-taking in Ireland”.

Short jail sentences exposed young men to a “training ground and recruiting centre for drugs gangs, and prison life was intimidating, dangerous and nightmarishly chaotic for drug-using and non-drug-using inmates alike”.

Policy failures, a lack of public and political attention and severe under-funding had compounded the dilemma, warned the Drug Policy Action Group.

It criticised the over-reliance on methadone programmes in jails, restrictions on needle exchanges and a lack of post-release help for offenders.

“As a result the present situation is possibly worse than it has ever been.”

Politicians had a vested interest in ensuring that prisons were not seen as “holiday camps” and often viewed inmates as getting their “just deserts”, the action group claimed. The report warned any drug-free policy would increase tensions among guards and inmates and possibly facilitate the corruption of staff.

The report calls for treatment-based sanctions for drug-using offenders, a full time drugs court, a custodial drugs treatment centre and more incentives for inmates to try rehabilitative services while in jail.