Prison Drugs Policy goes to the Dogs

Prison Drugs Policy goes to the Dogs
Date: 19 June, 2007


The IPRT has rubbished the "drug free prison" strategy detailed in May by former Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, noting that under the plan sniffer dogs will outnumber new drug treatment counsellors by almost 50%.

In a speech at the Prison Officers' Association's annual conference, the Mr. McDowell announced the purchase of 32 drug sniffing dogs as part of the Government's plan to create so-called "heroin-free prisons". In April, the Irish Prison Service announced plans to appoint 24 drug counsellors, meaning that more dogs will be appointed than treatment counsellors under the Government's new drug strategy.

"The Government has stated that their so-called drug free prisons plan includes a commitment to rehabilitation and counselling," said IPRT Executive Director Rick Lines. "Yet their decision to appoint more dogs than drug counsellors shows their obsession with appearing 'tough on drugs' leaves treatment and rehabilitation services the poor cousin to headline-grabbing gimmickry."

The IPRT notes that as many as half of Irish prisoners have a history of illegal drug use, a figure that does not include the use of alcohol, and doubts that the new counselling team will meet the current need. "We have to remember that these new counsellors are not adding additional capacity to a fully staffed treatment and rehabilitation service," said Mr Lines. "Rather they are coming into a counselling service described as 'non-existent' by the National Prison Chaplain's Association only two years ago."

The IPRT notes the Government's plan will establish a corps of 135 specialised officers to handle the sniffer dogs, more than five times the number of new drug counsellors to be appointed.

"The fact that the Prison Service will appoint five times as many staff to attend to the needs of 30 dogs as it will to meet the needs of 3,000 prisoners shows the cynical nature of the Government's approach to the drugs issue," said Mr Lines. "Any Government that appoints dogs faster and in greater numbers than addiction and rehabilitation counsellors is not making a serious attempt to address the issue of drug use in prisons, or re-offending by people with problem drug or alcohol use."

In the speech to the POA conference, Mr. McDowell further reiterated the plan to institute mandatory drug testing of prisoners, despite the lack of evidence that such programmes reduce drug use. In 2005, the Scottish Prison Service announced plans to cancel its mandatory drug testing programme after ten years, noting that its failure to produce the intended results meant that money could better be spent in more effective areas of drug services such as treatment.

"In April the IPRT published the findings of a TNS/MRBI poll showing that 81% of respondents believe that offenders with a drug addiction should be placed in drug recovery programmes instead of serving a prison sentence. This clearly shows the widespread public support for an approach to drug use in which treatment rather than punishment is the central feature," said Mr Lines. "Yet from sniffer dogs to mandatory testing to CCTV, the Government has time and time again demonstrated an approach to prison drug use more in common with Inspector Gadget than international best practice."