EMCDDA DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
INFORMATION BULLETIN
DRUG USE & PRISONS - INFORMATION BULLETIN
4 March 2016
______
GREY LITERATURE
Report on an announced inspection ofHMP Ranby
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons
London: February 2016
Prisons: Drugs
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 ( to Question 25491, how many prisoners returned to jail having broken their licence conditions were subsequently found to be carrying concealeddrugsin each of the last five years - They Work for You, UK
Prisons: Drugs
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to eradicate new psychoactive substances across the prison estate; and if he will make a statement - They Work For You, UK
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Dual diagnoses among detained female systematic offenders
Blaauw, E; Strijker, G; Boerema, Y; Veersma, E; van der Meer-Jansma, M; Anthonio, G
Advances in Dual Diagnosis
9, 1, p.7-13, 2016
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of psychopathology including substance use disorders in a sample of detained female systematic offenders.
Design/methodology/approach
All case files of female systematic offenders who had been subjected to a special court order for systematic offenders in the period 2004-2014 were studied. A total of 81 fairly complete case files were selected for the study. These were all systematic offenders as they had been sentenced for at least 25 offences with an average of 102 offences over a period of 17.5 years.
Findings
All except one woman were addicted to substances in the past year, with an average duration of addiction of 21 years. In addition, 53 per cent were diagnosed with another DSM Axis I disorder and 73 per cent were diagnosed with a personality disorder. Furthermore, 32-59 per cent were found to have intellectual dysfunctions. In total, 12 per cent had one type of the above disorders, 43 per cent two types, 31 per cent three types and 14 per cent all four types. The prevalence rates of these disorders were higher than those reported in other prison studies.
Research limitations/implications
It is concluded that female systematic offenders can be characterised as problematic in many respects. Even in such a problematic group treatment can be provided.
Originality/value
The present study is the only study that provides prevalence data of mental disorders among female systematic offenders.
Community correctional agents' views of medication-assisted treatment: examining their influence on treatment referrals and community supervision practices
Mitchell SG, Willet J, Monico LB, James A, Rudes DS, Viglioni J, Schwartz RP, Gordon MS, Friedmann PD
Substance Abuse
9 February 2016
[Epub ahead of print]
Background:
Alcohol and opioid use disorders are common among adults under community supervision. While several medications (medication assisted treatment or MAT) are FDA-approved to treat such disorders, they are underutilized with this population despite established effectiveness at decreasing substance use. This paper examines how community correctional agents' understanding of addiction and views of MAT influence their professional actions regarding addiction medications.
Methods:
A total of 118 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with community correctional agents taking part in the CJ-DATS MATICCE implementation study across 20 parole/probation offices in nine US states. Using grounded theory methodology and an iterative analytic approach, issues of role perception, views of MAT, current treatment referral and community supervisions practices were explored.
Results:
Agents often had limited autonomy to make direct treatment referrals, regardless of their views of MAT, as they were required to follow court orders and their organization's policies and procedures. Within some organizations community correctional agents held sufficient autonomy to make direct treatment referrals, with agents struggling to reconcile their desire to support their clients who needed MAT with concerns about the abuse potential of opioid agonist medications. Viewing MAT as a "treatment of last resort" was counterbalanced by the view that it was an effective evidence-based practice. Agents described how MAT impacted their ability to supervise clients and how their knowledge and understanding of MAT was directly influenced by watching their clients who were successful or unsuccessful on MAT. Even those agents who were more accepting of MAT were largely unsupportive of it long-term use.
Conclusions:
Community correctional agents' views of MAT were influenced by their understanding of addiction as well as their experiences supervising clients receiving treatment with medications, but whether or not MAT referrals were made was not always within their control.
Prisoners’ access to psychoactive medications: The need for research and improved policy
Watson, T M
Forensic Science International
19 December 2015
doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2015.12.007
[FULL TEXT AVAILABLE]
Accessing methadone within Moldovan prisons: Prejudice and myths amplified by peers
Polonsky, M; Azbel, L; Wickersham, J A; Marcus, R; Doltu, S; Grishaev, E; Dvoryak, S; Altice, F L
Forensic Science International, 2016, 29, p.91-95
[FULL TEXT AVAILABLE]
NEWS STORIES
Self-harming numbers spike in people detained in custody cells
Call to slash jail time for Scots prisoners who ditch drugs
Scottish prisoners should have their jail time slashed if they can prove they are drug free, according to a leading expert in tackling drug addiction | Scotsman, UK
Inside Wandsworth prison: drug drones and demoralised staff
The Guardian has been granted unprecedented access to two prisons to see the impact of funding cuts. In the first of two reports, Amelia Gentleman finds broken windows and bored inmates at the UK’s most overcrowded jail | Guardian, UK
Prisoners using drones to smuggle in drugs and phones, figures reveal
Drones are being increasingly used to smuggle drugs, mobile phones and other banned items into prisons, it can be revealed | ITV, UK
Ranby jail reduces population after inspectors' warning over 'legal highs'
Emergency measures put in place to prevent Nottinghamshire jail being overwhelmed by surge in psychoactive substances
HMP Ranby report: Legal highs 'could overwhelm prison'
A prison's problems with new psychoactive substances (NPS) have led to high levels of violence, according to a report.
Jail for man who hid prison drugs under stamps
A man has been jailed for sending cannabis to his brother in prison by hiding the drug under postage stamps | BBC, UK
Prison drug smuggler caught after inmate choked on heroin package
A man who smuggled drugs into prison was caught after the inmate he handed them to began to choke on the package, a court heard | BBC, UK
HMP Ranby prisoners 'muscle into' office to take back legal highs, report finds
'The harm caused by new psychoactive substances in prisons requires a national policy' | Independent, UK
Bristol Prison: 'Huge' and disruptive' legal highs problem
So-called legal highs are a "huge and disruptive" problem at Bristol Prison, a spokesman for the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) says | BBC, UK
High as a Kite - Behind Bars
Back in July 2014 I started blogging on the subject of so-called ‘legal highs’ in prison (read post here ( ). Since then, the issue has come to dominate media coverage of our increasingly dysfunctional prison system | PrisonUK Blog, UK
Don’t blame legal highs for prisoners’ problems. Blame prisons
‘Drugs are part of a much wider problem in our jails’
Back in July 2014 I started blogging on Prison UK ( on the subject of so-called ‘legal highs’ in prison (read post here ( ). Since then, the issue has come to dominate media coverage of our increasingly dysfunctional prison system | Justice Gap, UK
New hepatitis C guidance for prisons could save lives
Today The Hepatitis C Trust and a group of leading prison healthcare experts published guidance - The blood-borne virus opt-out testing policy for prisons in England: An analysis of need towards full implementation (PDF) ( on how prisons can save lives by diagnosing and treating people living with hepatitis C | Hep C Trust, UK