Do Prisons Encourage Drug Use?

The prison system has several stated goals: including punishing offenders, protecting the community and to promoting rehabilitation.

But ironically, it is no secret that inmates in prisons across the country have access to drugs. Many have criticised the prison system on that basis, arguing that prison does little to break the cycle of reoffending; instead facilitating drug addiction, which can in turn exacerbate social and mental health problems.

This is concerning given that almost 75% of inmates in NSW prisons report that their criminal offending is linked to drug or alcohol use.

Inmates are regularly subjected to random drug tests and searches, in the form of urinalysis and physical searches of their property, and drug detection dogs are often used to scan visitors.

Despite these measures, drugs are available for purchase in prison at a premium.

Drug Use Doubles in Queensland Prisons

Queensland prisons have reportedly experienced a doubling in the number of inmates testing positive to drugs in the last year.

102 prisoners tested positive; with 64 registering the presence of buprenorphine – commonly known as ‘Suboxone.’

Suboxone is used to treat opiate addictions in a similar manner to methadone, but it must be prescribed by a doctor.

The increase in positive tests for buprenorphine suggests that prescription drugs are either being shared between inmates or smuggled in by visitors or corrections officers.

While the drug is available for a nominal price outside prison, on the inside a single patch can attract hundreds of dollars – with many inmates engaging in a lucrative trade to make money.

Buprenorphone is by far the most commonly used drug by inmates in Queensland prisons, followed by cannabis.

Queensland is finding it increasingly difficult to monitor and prevent the presence of illegal drugs and contraband. Syringes are often smuggled in, along with prescription drugs and even alcohol.

Drugs may even be sent through the post, and have been known to evade detection if secreted well.

To combat the increased prevalence of buprenorphine, sniffer dogs have recently been trained to sniff out the drug.

Experts say that inmates have resorted to smuggling in drugs because, unlike other states, Queensland offers very limited access to drug treatment programs while they are behind bars. Such have proven instrumental in curbing rates of reoffending and thereby saves the community money in the long term.

The Risks of Drugs in Prisons

Besides impeding rehabilitative efforts, the prevalence of drugs in prisons presents a number of other concerns.

NSW prisons faced a health scare last month after it was revealed that a HIV positive inmate had shared needles with six other inmates.

The inmates embroiled in the saga were reportedly punished, with some being moved to other prisons and others having their privileges withdrawn.

NSW Health maintains that, on average, at least one inmate contracts HIV each year – primarily through sharing needles used to inject drugs.

Infections such as hepatitis C have also spread quickly through prison populations – and it is estimated that around 30% of all NSW inmates have hepatitis C.

In other cases, the accessibility can have more dire consequences: in June last year, mother of three Tracey Lee Brannigan died of a heroin overdose while locked down in a cell at the Dilwynia Correctional Centre.

Tracey’s friends and family say that she had a history of using and dealing drugs, and that the prison system had failed to address her drug issues and prevent her from accessing drugs from the inside.

She had reportedly been imprisoned several times, and family members say that each stint in prison left her even more vulnerable to her addiction.

Tracey had reportedly overdosed on at least three prior occasions while in custody – and it is suggested that Corrective Services failed to take adequate precautions to prevent reoccurrences.

A women-in-prisons advocate visited Tracey just hours before her death, and said that she noticed that Tracey was on something. She alerted prison officers so that they could put her in a ‘dry cell’ where she would be monitored around the clock, but this was not done.

Tracey was instead returned to a high-risk cell and left unsupervised for 17 hours, during which she died.

An Endemic Problem

The case of Tracey Lee Brannigan, together with statistics which indicate an increase in drugs and contraband being smuggled into prisons, suggests that more needs to be done to tackle these issues.

A coronial inquest into Ms Brannigan’s death found that ‘the availability of illicit substances in correctional facilities is an endemic problem.’

The advent of new technologies has presented problems to prison officers, with outsiders turning to unconventional methods to smuggle drugs into prisons, including using drones to drop drugs over prison walls.

NSW Corrective Services has introduced several measures in the wake of Ms Brannigan’s death – searches are now conducted on inmates and cells at or after they have been locked in, with known drug users targeted. There has also been an increased use of X-ray machines, CCTV cameras and even thermal detection technology to ensure that drugs do not find their way inside prisons.

However, corrections staff have called for greater resources to tackle the issue, including more sniffer dogs to assist with searches.

Other jurisdictions, including the ACT, have considered a needle exchange program to curb the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, using a similar model to the heroin injecting centres in King’s Cross.

But some staff have raised concerns that needles could be used as weapons, posing a safety risk to all inside the prison.