Northern Ireland prisons tackle drug abuse

Drugs are a problem in prisons everywhere; inmates seem to have easier access to drugs within prisons than on the outside. Sue McAllister has told Stormont’s justice committee that more changes are required to deal with the on-going problem of drug abuse. Both illegal and subscription drugs are abused in prisons.

“It is fair to say, as with any prison in arguably any jurisdiction, there is an underlying drug problem. But, I don’t think that will come as any shock to anybody,” said Paul Cawkwell, director of offender policy and operations.

Sue McAllister, director-general of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, has been driving change in prisons since she took up the role. She is now launching a pilot scheme designed to tackle the drugs problem on three fronts: to combat the supply of drugs into prisons, to reduce the demand for drugs, and to reduce the harm drugs are causing.

“This is a key priority for us, to address the drugs issue,” Ms McAllister confirmed.

The pilot scheme is being launched at Maghaberry jail in County Antrim, where two prisoners recently died following drug abuse; it is believed that access to both illegal and prescription medication led to the two deaths.

Random testing is ineffective

Mr Cawkwell has described the random drug testing of inmates as being “ineffective”; instead, he believes that intelligence-led operations are required to really tackle the growing drugs problem.

Random drugs testing may be a good deterrent in athletics and business, but it does not appear to be working in prisons.

The prison service has been experiencing a fall in staff numbers in recent years, with more officers due to leave this year. Since voluntary redundancy was introduced in 2011, 457 officers and staff have left the Prison Service. This may affect the outcome of the policy changes.