§ Dr. GodmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking to reduce(a) the demand for drugs and (b) the supply of drugs in prison; and if he will make a statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe subject of the question relates to matters undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service. I have asked its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell, to arrange for a reply to be given.
203WLetter from E. W. Frizzell to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 18 October 1994:
Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your question about the action being taken to reduce the demand for and supply of drugs in prison.Prisons in Scotland follow a common approach in dealing with the problems of prisoners who misuse drugs. The main elements of that approach which aims to reflect as far as possible the range of measures available in the community are:medical examination on admission to identify current drug users;continuation of substitute prescribing for very short-term and remand prisoners in appropriate cases;provision of appropriate medication to alleviate symptoms of withdrawal;counselling and practical advice on drug-free lifestyles and harm minimisation;liaison with community based agencies prior to release; work with families;education for non-drug using prisoners on drugs misuse.Drug misuse is not tolerated within prison and a high priority is attached to the exclusion of all illicit drugs. Nevertheless, total exclusion is extremely difficult to achieve without the introduction of unacceptably stringent control measures, particularly in relation to visit arrangements, which would themselves create significant problems, not least for prisoners' families and those prisoners for whom the maintenance of family relationships are a high priority. The range of suitable security measures in place include closed circuit television surveillance, strip searching of prisoners on suspicion following visits, lockers for visitors' hand baggage and the use of a drug-detection dog unit.