7:00pm Thursday 13th March 2008
A WILTSHIRE jail has been told it is the second worst in the country for allowing drugs through the bars.
The scale of drug abuse inside prisons across the country was revealed as figures showed up to one in six inmates tested positive for opiates including heroin.
A Ministry of Justice study showed that Erlestoke jail, near Devizes, scored the second highest level of positive tests for heroin and other opiates.
More than 16 per cent of prisoners, checked in random drug tests at the rural jail, tested positive for traces of drugs.
Only Featherstone jail in Wolverhampton had higher levels of opiate abuse with 16.7 per cent of inmates testing positive.
Wiltshire's only prison, the category C Erlestoke facility, has space for 410 prisoners and is currently home to 38 inmates serving life sentences.
It receives adult male prisoners from much of England and Wales.
Figures on drug abuse in prisons were published for the first time yesterday, following a three-month study.
It came as ministers announced that testing for the heroin substitute buprenorphine will be introduced into all prisons from next month.
The survey focused on use of buprenorphine - also known as Subutex - and discovered positive results in 63 jails.
Justice minister David Hanson said: "Prisons already have in place a comprehensive framework of supply reduction measures which can be adapted flexibly to meet local need.
"The increased misuse of buprenorphine does not detract from the considerable achievement of prisons over the last 10 years in reducing the supply of drugs.
"Buprenorphine misuse presents a new challenge which is why testing will now be introduced in all prisons to act as a deterrent," he added.
"Prisoners will also be warned of the dangers involved in misusing this drug and reminded of the drug treatment options available in prisons."
The minister added that a review was under way into disrupting drug supply behind bars, and is due to be complete by May.
The director of the Prison Reform Trust, Juliet Lyon, said: "So much crime in communities - and violence in prisons - is fuelled by addictions that Government must focus on bringing about lasting solutions.
"A truly joined-up approach would see more effective restrictions on the supply of drugs in prison but also greater use by courts of drug rehabilitation requirements in the community."
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