Prisons (Drugs) (Hansard, 27 February 1995)

§ Mr. Michael Forsyth

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

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Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Frank Cook, dated 27 February 1995: I have been asked to reply to your recent Question on the extent of drug abuse in prisons. The information currently available on prisoners is limited to that provided by the Home Office Addicts Index which relates to those assessed as being addicted to Class A drugs. During 1993, 3,764 drug addicts were identified by prison medical officers in England, Scotland and Wales. Not all of these prisoners were, however, necessarily misusing drugs while in prison. In addition, it is known that a significant number of prisoners use Class B drugs but no statistical information is currently available. However, this year the Prison Service will be introducing a mandatory drug testing programme for prisoners. As part of the programme prisoners will be required to participate in random drug testing. This will provide a better indication of the extent of drug misuse in prison and the Service will be able to use this information to monitor the effectiveness of local drug strategies. The presence of drugs in prison is unacceptable and tackling drug misuse is a high priority for the Service. A new prison Service drugs strategy has been developed as part of the Government's strategy against the misues of drugs, as set out in the Green Paper "Tackling Drugs Together". The new strategy will be issued to all Prison Service establishments in the near future. The reduction in the level of drug misuse will be achieved through the implementation of local drug strategies which will have the objective of reducing the supply of drugs; reducing the demand for drugs; rehabilitating drug misusers; and reducing the potential for damage to health arising from the misuse of drugs. Mandatory drug testing is an important part of the strategy. The first phase of implementation has already started in eight establishments. This will be carefully monitored and evaluated and the results will provide the basis for testing throughout the Prison Service. Prisoners who test positive will be liable to the usual range of disciplinary action on adjudication including additional days, loss of privileges and fines. Other measures to be taken will include imposition of closed visits and removal of home leave. Prisoners who test positive will be offered treatment for their drug misuse problem. The strategy also contains measures to prevent drugs entering prisons. These include the increased use of drug dogs; more effective searching of prisoners, staff and visitors; the use of closed-circuit television cameras during visits; and the imposition of closed visits for prisoners found guilty of drug offences in prison. The Prison Service will also be substantially expanding the number and type of drug treatment programmes available to prisoners. Careful monitoring and evaluation of these programmes will help to determine the development of drug treatment in other establishments.