A sensible discussion about current drugs policy.

[Bassman62]

The supreme irony is that by far the most common way for drugs to get into prisons is via the staff. Many get caught, most do not. Even those guarding people in prison for drug offences are caught up in the same madness, the irony is delicious!

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/panorama/raphaelrowe/2009/08/on_the_trail_of_drug_smugglers.html

 

 

http://www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/Prison-officer-hid-heroin-clothing/article-1497892-detail/article.html

 

Ha ha ha!!!

 

What an absolut load of rubbish, your links prove/show the opposite to your most ludicrous post to date (I'm sorry MODS but this poster is now delving into the realms of fantasy, pleas read the links that his/her latest fairy story is based on).

Quite frankly your most recent posts get more surreal, sorry but you've lost what bit of credibility you may have had.

[hard2miss]

What an absolut load of rubbish, your links prove/show the opposite to your most ludicrous post to date (I'm sorry MODS but this poster is now delving into the realms of fantasy, pleas read the links that his/her latest fairy story is based on).

Quite frankly your most recent posts get more surreal, sorry but you've lost what bit of credibility you may have had.

Have you even read any of the links ANYONE has put to you or anyone else on this topic that you deem to be against what you believe ?

Your statement above about Spindrift is absolutly stupid as you have obviously not even clicked on the links, one of which is from the BBC website (remember them, one of the most respected news broadcasters in the world ?)

 

Here is a post someone put up on the sites/links you won't even entertain. This quote blows all your argument out of the water...

7. At 4:27pm on 02 Aug 2009, smitten72 wrote:

I worked as a Senior Officer in the Prison Service for 8 years. Drugs are a real problem with in UK Prisons with big money exchanging hands. I have known of some Prisoners who have been happy to go to Prison so as to be dealers making money on the inside. More searches should be carried out not just to stop drugs but to stop the money that is swapping hands being available. Prison officers have their hands full in this fight. As the report states drugs are brought in via visitors, over the wall, those coming back from the courts and sadly via a small percentage of staff. That said, some are happy to allow Prisoners access to drugs as a means of controlling an ever increasing Prison population that is supervised by such a small amount of officers. It appears that as long as we dont hear of riots in Prison or abuse that as a general public we are happy to turn a blind eye to this problem as if it doesnt affect us, but it does. Whilst closed visits would only restrict the amount of drugs that enter prisons, it would increase their value and make the pay for bringing drugs in to prisons more attractive as the price went up. I believe more searches should be taken out, and that all staff entering prisons should be searched every day with higher Prison Sentences being given to those who are found to violate the law.

 

Crazzzy eh ? even prisons turn a blind eye to drugs because they have an easier time letting people take drugs, that and the staff have been smuggling in drugs because of the money involved. And why is there loads of money in it ? Because of the black market - remember the supply and demand argument for legalising them ???

 

Im sure spindrift won't require an apology off you, but it would be a nice gesture to offer

[spindrift]

CORRUPT prison staff are more than doubling their monthly salaries by selling heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs to inmates, according to an authoritative report.

 

Warders in the pay of prisoners are behind one in four jail drug deals. They are cashing in on a lucrative drugs market worth £100m a year, research by the Policy Exchange think tank has found.

 

 

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7134007.ece

 

You might think that a prison sentence would be a good opportunity to get drug addicts clean. But according to a survey of prisoners carried out by Policy Exchange, more than a third of prisoners are using drugs inside, with one in five using heroin.

 

Why does it seem to be so hard to keep prisons drug free? Surely prison should be one place that chaotic, criminal people can experience a bit of order?

 

One problem is the culture of denial about how drugs really get into prison. Previous government reports have always stressed the role of prison visits, and material coming in "over the wall". But the sheer volume of drugs being consumed in prison suggests a more important channel. In fairness, a previous investigation by the Met suggested that one in ten prison officers is corrupt. But nothing has been done about it.

 

 

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/centreright/2010/05/time-to-face-the-truth-drugs-get-into-prison-via-corrupt-prison-officers.html

 

Its hardly surprising that there are so many officers are bent, given that drugs are worth up to 1,000 per cent more on the inside, and the current anti-corruption regime is a joke. As the Sunday Times reports today, even when serious problems are identified in particular prisons, no action has been taken.

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7134007.ece

 

CORRUPT prison staff are more than doubling their monthly salaries by selling heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs to inmates, according to an authoritative report.

[spindrift]

First, consider why drugs are so popular in prison in the first place. It is fair to say that hardly any prisoners do not have mental health and addiction problems – maybe 15 per cent have not abused one drug or another, or experienced some mental disturbance, or both. That’s not surprising: prisoners come, mostly, from the most deprived and wretched parts of society. They are damaged people, many of them. For example, something like half of young persons in prison had no permanent parents of their own, and grew up in the ghastly care system. So you’re starting off with an unhappy population of troubled individuals who have an unusually keen appetite for getting out of their heads on mood-altering substances.

 

Then, think of the economics. What happens to the price of drugs inside prisons? Well, they retail at, typically, 1,000 per cent the street price. You don’t need to be a financial whiz-kid to see that that price increase represents a massive incentive to prison officers to smuggle drugs into prisons.

 

The drugs trade inside our prisons is estimated at £100 million (National Offender Management Service figure).

 

And the police (Met) say there’s an average of seven corrupt officers or “screws” per prison.

 

 

 

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewmcfbrown/100042054/corruption-in-the-prison-service-are-there-really-seven-bent-officers-in-every-prison/

 

This would mean each corrupt staffer could be individually responsible for £100,000 worth of drugs business each year. As the report says:

 

 

“Given the starting salary for prison officers is £17,187, it is easy to see why the temptations are so high. An officer bringing a gram of heroin into prison every week (about the size of a couple of paracetamol tablets) with a street value of around £40, could be more than doubling his gross salary every month – with a negligible chance of being searched or detected.”

[spindrift]

The report also cites research showing that around £100m of drugs are smuggled into prisons each year. The majority of drug-dealing in prison involves the collusion of about 1,000 corrupt members of staff – equating to seven prison officers per prison. "They are able to smuggle drugs due to lax security arrangements and, given the inflated value of drugs in prison, are able to make substantial profits without fear of detection," said Chambers.

 

"A prison officer bringing a gram of heroin into prison every week – about the size of two paracetamol tablets – could expect to more than double his basic salary."

 

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/may/28/prisons-keeping-inmates-addicted-drugs

 

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of probation union Napo, said officers who smuggled drugs into jail routinely avoided detection. "It's a serious problem but the government doesn't keep statistics on how many staff are caught, which is extraordinary," he said.

 

Fletcher said there were more than 6,000 prison officers convicted of disciplinary offences over the past four years, with 19 of them currently serving sentences.

[hard2miss]

Its not just drugs, My cousin was in a prison up north and was due out but got caught with mobiles that a Female officer was getting him in. He was giving her far more than money for them as well, but she was getting good money (don't know about the other)

 

Now care to believe it or not, its up to you but one day when the blinkers come off you will realise your not in Kansas any more and its going to be a real wake up call, just as its going to be for the rest of society that has their heads in the sand.

 

Drugs policy is not working, resources are been thrown in the wrong direction and its getting worse and worse until one day it wont be able to be ignored.

 

By then though we should have a younger generation that are not living in the utopian era of the 50's or from outdated US policies, and something will change. Hopefully.

[hard2miss]

Yes well you'd have got your way, every prisoner getting a drug ration book.

I can just imagine it in court. :-

"You're sentenced to two years in prison with an allowance of 5 spliffs per day or two snorts of coke.

 

At least you've admitted that the 50s were utopian

And yes you like your cousin will really have found your own drug fuelled utopia with the latest TV series being 'Journey Into Space(ed out)'.

I have no idea what you even are talking about when you go off into one of your rants.

 

I have had enough anyhow, its like trying to get the kids shoes on trying to get any sense into you. Its a total waist of time and if I don't leave the topic it really will get closed because I really cant take any more of you.

 

Good luck ! in the rest of the debate if that's what you can call it, everyone against one person. I think the word sensible needs taking out of the title

[spindrift]

The bad news is that, like most UK prisons, Pentonville is awash with drugs.

 

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/15/george-michael-pop-stars-prison

 

Scottish jails 'awash' with drugs

 

The Conservatives would like to see drug-free wings established in jails

Drugs are seized in Scottish jails almost five times a day on average, according to official figures.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7957123.stm

 

'Coming Clean': Policy Exchange report on drugs use in prison (1 June 2010)

'Coming clean', a new report from Policy Exchange says it is an open secret that our prisons, are awash with drugs. The previous government provided significant additional funding to reduce the supply of drugs and increase support programmes. However, this report contends that there are a series of fundamental problems with the way these issues are approached – and that despite repeated warning signs, the Prison Service appears destined to continue down the same failed path. To download the report, click here. To read the summary and the press coverage, click here. Read a blog by Max Chambers, author of the report here.

 

http://www.criminaljusticealliance.org/policy.htm

 

It is an open secret that our prisons, traditionally thought of as secure institutions, are awash with drugs.

 

The easy availability of drugs in prisons undermines treatment programmes, allows prisoners to maintain anti-social habits during their sentence, and leaves them unprepared for release and primed to reoffend. What is less widely known is how drugs worth an estimated £100 million really get in to prisons, and what really goes on inside prisons in an effort to get inmates off drugs and prepared for release.

 

 

 

Apology accepted.

[Magilla]

Good luck ! in the rest of the debate if that's what you can call it, everyone against one person. I think the word sensible needs taking out of the title

 

Indeed, you can't debate with someone who lacks the intelligence to understand what the debate is about

 

The vast majority of respondents seem to have managed OK, and there seems to be a majority concensus that something has to change or the issues will get worse and worse for the normal people of the UK.