Referente Jurídico

Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction study in England and Wales

Light, Grant and Hopkins used data from the first wave of the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) longitudinal cohort study to explore substance use and gender differences (Light, Grant, &

Hopkins, 2013). Eighty-one per cent of the cohort reported having taken illicit drugs at some point in their lives, with no difference between genders in this measure or for drug use in the last four weeks before custody (64% overall). Females were more likely than males to report ever using heroin (55% compared to 39%) and to report the use of Class A drugs in the four weeks prior to custody (58% compared to 43%). Nineteen per cent of those who reported ever using heroin said that they had first done so in prison, with male heroin users (38%) more likely to report doing so than female heroin users (10%). Just under one-third of prisoners said their offending was always connected with their drug use, with females more likely to report this than males (50% and 28% respectively). Females were also more likely to report that they needed help with a drug problem on entry to prison (49% compared to 29% of males). A similar divergence was also found in the 2014/15 survey by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) in which 28% of male and 41% of female new arrivals at prison stated they had substance misuse needs (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2015).

Young adults (18-20 year olds) were less likely to report substance misuse needs compared to older prisoners (15% and 33% respectively) (Ministry of Justice, 2015b). The drugs used across age groups differed also, with young adults significantly more likely to report having used cannabis, cocaine, LSD or ecstasy in the year before custody, whilst older adult prisoners were more likely to report having used crack cocaine, heroin, illicit tranquilisers and illicit methadone.

Addiction prevalence testing in Scotland

Data shows that of the 1,170 addiction prevalence tests (APTs) carried out on reception to prisons in Scotland during 2014/15, 70% were positive for illicit drugs, down from 77% in the previous year.

Benzodiazepines and cannabis remained the most frequently detected drugs, being detected in 46%

and 42% of tests respectively. This was a decrease in positive tests from the previous year for both drugs, when they were each detected in 50% of tests (see Table 8.2). The proportion of tests positive for opioids decreased significantly from 33% to 26%, the lowest figure recorded since APT began in 2007. Following an increase in the percentage of positive tests for cocaine last year, there was a small decrease this year, with the level remaining higher than that seen in 2012/13.

Table 8.2: Percentage of positive tests on reception to Scottish prisons, 2008/09 to 2014/15

2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13* 2013-14^† 2014-15^‡

Amphetamines 2 1 2 1 3 3 2

Barbiturates - 0 1 1 0 1 0

Benzodiazepines 49 38 53 48 47 50 46

Buprenorphine 3 0 2 3 9 9 7

Cannabis 42 28 40 35 45 50 42

Cocaine 6 6 8 9 9 13 11

Methadone 4 6 11 7 11 9 9

Opioids 36 36 36 34 31 33 26

All illicit drugs 71 56 73 70 72 77 70

*From http://www.scotpho.org.uk/downloads/drugs/SPS-Addiction-Prevalence-Testing-Stats-Final-2012-13-v2.pdf

†From http://www.scotpho.org.uk/downloads/drugs/SPS-Addiction-Prevalence-Testing-Stats-Final-2013-14.pdf

‡From http://www.scotpho.org.uk/downloads/drugs/SPS-Addiction-Prevalence-Testing-Stats-Final-2014-15.pdf Source: (Scottish Government, 2010a, 2010b, 2012)

The 2013 Scottish Prisoner Survey (Scottish Prison Service, 2014) results show that two in five respondents reported being under the influence of drugs at the time of their offence (39%), with around one-sixth reporting that they committed their offence to get money for drugs (16%).

8.4.2 Drug use inside prison England and Wales Mandatory drug testing

Mandatory drug testing (MDT) was introduced as part of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (Her Majesty’s Government, 1994) and involves collecting urine samples from prisoners, which are then analysed for evidence of illicit drug use.¹²⁸ It is used to estimate the level of drug use within prisons as well as to identify individual drug users, who can then be offered support and/or sanctioned. There are five ways in which drug testing can be undertaken under Prison Service Order (PSO) 3601:¹²⁹

• random testing — prisoners selected on a random basis;

• reasonable suspicion — prisoners selected where there is reason to believe they have misused drugs;

• risk assessment — prisoners selected where they are being considered for a privilege or position of trust (such as Release on Temporary Licence or a job);

• frequent test programme — prisoners selected because of their previous history of drug misuse; and

• reception testing — prisoners selected on a routine or occasional basis

128 Each sample is analysed automatically for eight groups of drug: cannabis, opioids, cocaine, benzodiazepines, methadone, amphetamines, buprenorphine and barbiturates. NPS are not currently detectable.

129 See: http://www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/psos

The target for Random Mandatory Drug Testing (RMDT), previously set at five per cent of the population in prisons with an average population in the previous 12 months of 400 or more inmates and 10% of the population for those with less than 400, was removed in 2011/12 although the information is still collected for management purposes. In England and Wales during 2014/15, the rate of drug misuse as reflected by those testing positive in MDT was 6.9% (National Offender Management Service, 2015a). This was a decrease from the rate for the previous year of 7.4% but similar to the rate observed in 2012/13 (seven per cent) (National Offender Management Service, 2014).

Whilst positive RMDT rates of just seven per cent were recorded in 2014, reasonable suspicion testing yielded a substantially higher rate of 30% (The Centre of Social Justice, 2015). However, levels of suspicion testing have dropped by 21% in the last two years. In 2014/15 59% of establishments did not consistently complete all requested suspicion MDTs in line with Prison Service requirements (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2015).

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectorate of Prisons Report

The HMIP Report 2014/15 included survey results showing that 32% of adult male respondents stated that illicit drugs were “easy” or “very easy” to obtain in their prison (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2015). This rate varied depending on the type of establishment prisoners were held in, rising to 44% of respondents in Category C training prisons and falling to 18% of those held in high security prisons.

Furthermore, some prisoners stated they had actually developed problems with illicit drugs (seven per cent) or diverted medications (seven per cent) since entering prison (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2014). Over one-third (37%) of adult male prisons stated that the use of new psychoactive substances (NPS), specifically ‘Spice’ and ‘Black Mamba’, are of increasing concern (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons, 2014).

Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction study

Data from the second and third waves of the SPCR examined prisoners’ experience of prison and their outcomes on release (Ministry of Justice, 2014b). The findings suggested that whilst 40% of prisoners reported that they needed help for substance misuse, only 27% received support. A survey of longer-sentenced prisoners¹³⁰ found that 30% reported that they had used illicit drugs at some point during their sentence. The most commonly reported used drug was cannabis (22%), followed by heroin (14%).

Seizures of drugs inside prisons

There were almost 4,500 seizures of illicit drugs in prisons in England and Wales in 2013/14, an increase of over 200 on the preceding year (DrugScope, 2015).

In a press release from the MoJ,¹³¹ it was stated that there were 430 seizures of Spice¹³² in the first seven months of 2014 in prisons in England and Wales. This represented 132 more seizures of the substance than in the whole of 2013.

In an effort to find out which NPS were being used in prisons, in 2014/15 893 samples were collected from prisons in the south-west and north-west of England and analysed by the Forensic Early Warning System (FEWS). The results showed that the vast majority (738) contained non-controlled NPS, most commonly synthetic cannabinoids (Home Office, 2015a).

130 Those sentenced to between 18 months and four years. Base size 2,164.

131 See: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-crackdown-on-dangerous-legal-highs-in-prison

132 This figure represents the number of seizures described exactly as “Spice” on the prison administrative data system. It is possible this figure will include seizures of other cannabinoids.

Scotland

Data shows that of the 616 APT tests carried out at prisoner liberation in 2014/15,¹³³ 29% were positive for illicit drugs. This was an increase from the previous year which had 25% positive returns. The drugs most commonly detected when leaving prison were buprenorphine (13%), cannabis (eight per cent) benzodiazepines (seven per cent) and opioids (six per cent).

The 2013 Scottish Prisoner Survey (Scottish Prison Service, 2014) results show that two in five prisoners (38%) said that they had used illicit drugs in prison at some point. Of these, 82% said that their drug use had changed during their current period in prison. Almost two-thirds (63%) said that their drug use had decreased, whilst 14% said it had increased. Eight per cent of prisoners said they had used NPS in prison, with synthetic cannabinoids being the most commonly used (54%). Almost half of respondents reported that they had been assessed for drug use upon admission to prison (46%).

The SPS 2014/15 annual report (Scottish Prison Service, 2015) shows that 901 male and 102 female inmates were disciplined for “administering, or allowing to be administered, a controlled drug to oneself”.

This was an increase from 2013/14 when the figures were 790 and 79 respectively.

Wales

In Wales, the Welsh Emerging Drugs and Identification of Novel Substances (WEDINOS) project has been working in conjunction with the Welsh prisons to analyse and profile substance finds that do not have any evidential or forensic value. The main aim of this collaboration is to identify potential physical and mental health harm and trends in substances available within the Welsh prison estates. In addition, this work supports prison health care by allowing substance misuse teams and wider prison staff to address the challenges posed by those using drugs and by enabling the delivery of pragmatic and tailored harm reduction messages. These messages can then be passed in to community-based criminal justice services, helping to facilitate continuity of care and consistency of service provision.

From November 2013 to September 2015 WEDINOS received 198 samples from three Welsh prisons.

The most commonly identified substances were Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists (SCRAs), more commonly known within the prison estate as ‘Spice’ and ‘Mamba’. Other drugs profiled include a range of image and performance enhancing drugs and a small number of stimulants and benzodiazepines.

Northern Ireland

In 2012/13 703 individuals presented to drug treatment in prisons in NI. Primary cannabis use was the most common reason for presentation (30.4%), followed by benzodiazepines (18.6%), heroin (11.5%) and cocaine (11.4%). The percentage of treatment presentations for primary cannabis and primary benzodiazepine users were less than those presenting to outpatient treatment in the community (40.1%

and 26.5% respectively). Conversely primary cocaine and primary heroin users accounted for almost double the proportion of prison presentations than those in the community (5.4% and 5.2% respectively) (ST34, 2014).

Additionally, The Prisoner Quality of Life Survey 2012 found that 50% of respondents reported having emotional well-being/mental health issues; 44% reported having an alcohol problem when they came into prison; 39% had a problem with drugs when they came into prison, and 31% had a problem with prescription drugs (Roisin Broderick Scottish Prison Service Research Branch, 2013). Results from the survey also revealed that the most commonly drugs used were: cannabis (22%); benzodiazepines (16%); co-codamol (12%); tramadol (12%); ecstasy (11%); and Subutex® (buprenorphine; 11%).

The capturing of statistical information about substance misuse in NI prisons is currently being reviewed as part of the Prison Reform Workstream.

133 See: http://www.scotpho.org.uk/downloads/drugs/SPS-Addiction-Prevalence-Testing-Stats-Final-2014-15.pdf

8.5 Drug-related health in prisons