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Erlestoke prison second worst in country for drugs
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."
Your Say YourSwindon
Big Mac, says...
8:35pm Thu 13 Mar 08
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."
And we pay these people to run the country.
Jesus wept.
sn5007, swindon says...
10:46pm Thu 13 Mar 08
Big Mac, says...
6:33am Fri 14 Mar 08
You go into prison a soft drug user and come out a heroin addict.
You go into hospital with a minor complaint and come out in a body bag thanks to MRSA, or basic incompetence.
You go into school unable to read and write and leave at 16 unable to read and write.
You go on the benefit system and, er, never come out!
11 glorious years.
Lafyor Socksoff, Alicante says...
7:04am Fri 14 Mar 08
Most little darlings enter school with a basic idea of right and wrong. However when they emerge from the education system they understand that to lie, cheat and deny responsibility for just about everything they do is the way forward. Coupled with a complete lack of respect for anything and anyone around them is surely a noteworthy achievement. As Mr B liar told us when he took office, my three priorities are Education, Education, Education The results are there for all to see.
Big Mac, says...
8:02am Fri 14 Mar 08
Lafyor Socksoff wrote:
they understand that to lie, cheat and deny responsibility for just about everything they do is the way forward. Coupled with a complete lack of respect for anything and anyone around them is surely a noteworthy achievement.
A fair point. After all, that just about sums up Gordon Brown's career... and look how well he's done (for himself).
doug@homefarm, SN1 says...
8:57am Fri 14 Mar 08
sn5007 wrote:Your right about the 30 days for cannibis and 48 hrs for heroin, how ever if an inmate provides a positive test, but he/she has only been inside for less then 35 days no punitive action is taken as it is clear that this may have been in the system before they went inside. Having visited at Horfield there is a very hard attitude to drugs being smuggled in and it is a minimun 1 year sentence if caught. Unfortunatly people still try, but I am reliably informed that this is enforced by the Yardies. As for the remark by Jacko When I asked a prison governor why there where so any drugs in prison he replied " It keeps them quiet and makes our job easyier", the Governor must either be a very good friend of yours or your making it up. No person at that level of authority would make such a remark only to be crucified by the press and Home Office.
Alot of inmates go in addicted to softer drugs such as cannibas. But this stays in your system longer ie 30 days,they get caught in the p**s test and have longer sentences added, where as heroin can be out of your system in a day or two. They go in with a small drug problem then come out with OUR nightmare society drug problem called Heroin.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
9:11am Fri 14 Mar 08
AllyT, Swindon says...
10:22am Fri 14 Mar 08
Robert Feal-Martinez wrote:Chances are, if thats the governers attitude then he has members of staff who feel the same and bring it in.
It's called deniability Doug. Provided there were no witnesses the Governor can just say he/she made no such comment. It has to be said though given the rigorous checks when visiting prisons, I did it many times as a policeman, I do wonder how drugs get in without detection.
Robert Feal-Martinez, Swindon says...
10:28am Fri 14 Mar 08
yeti, swindon says...
12:57pm Fri 14 Mar 08
Big Mac wrote:was it any different under the tory government?
Speaks volumes for 11 years of Labour rule, doesn't it? You go into prison a soft drug user and come out a heroin addict. You go into hospital with a minor complaint and come out in a body bag thanks to MRSA, or basic incompetence. You go into school unable to read and write and leave at 16 unable to read and write. You go on the benefit system and, er, never come out! 11 glorious years.
SpandauBallot, swindon says...
3:01pm Fri 14 Mar 08
Big Mac, says...
5:04pm Fri 14 Mar 08
And the benefit system was far less generous with our money 11 years ago.
Of course nothing was perfect under the Tories but everything, and I mean everything, has got much, much worse under Blair & Brown... while all the time they take more and more and more of our money to fund their mistakes.
yeti, swindon says...
5:37pm Fri 14 Mar 08
if the tories were in power, the nhs would be a thing of the past by now.remember the mess they got that into?
and there have always been scum on benefits fleecing the system.
Jacko, swindon area says...
7:06pm Fri 14 Mar 08
I was well aqauinted with the officer. But yuo will all notice that the post has now been removed.
I wonder if some screws rand the editor and pleaded "Look sir, he,s calling us names"
The drugs in the prison system are brought in by the staff. END OF.FACT>
Jacko, swindon area says...
7:09pm Fri 14 Mar 08
AllyT wrote:Jacko When I asked a prison governor why there where so any drugs in prison he replied " It keeps them quiet and makes our job easyier", the Governor must either be a very good friend of yours or your making it up. No person at that level of authority would make such a remark only to be crucified by the press and Home Office
Robert Feal-Martinez wrote: It's called deniability Doug. Provided there were no witnesses the Governor can just say he/she made no such comment. It has to be said though given the rigorous checks when visiting prisons, I did it many times as a policeman, I do wonder how drugs get in without detection.Chances are, if thats the governers attitude then he has members of staff who feel the same and bring it in.
You got there in the end. But you just wondered about it. i found out how it happend.
Your sayYourSwindon
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greenwolf, swindon says...
8:28pm Thu 13 Mar 08