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What next for prison reform?

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The recent Prisons Bill promised the biggest shake-up of prisons since the Victorian era (DDN, June, page 5). At a VolteFace event in London, journalist Philippa Budgen asked panelists: ‘How can we have meaningful prison reform with drug policies that aren’t working? What would be your messages for justice secretary Michael Gove?’   ‘Supply […]

New psychoactive substances

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[…] Whether the punishments will affect levels of use remains to be seen, but the fears do appear to be well founded. According to a HM Inspectorate of Prisons report on HMP Dartmoor, safety at the prison has been compromised by ‘the too-ready availability of prohibited drugs’ including synthetic cannabinoids ‘not detectable with current testing […]

Government unveils major prison reforms

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The government has announced sweeping reforms of the prison system as part of the Queen’s Speech, including the establishment of six autonomous ‘reform prisons’. Governors at these will have ‘unprecedented’ freedom in terms of budgets, education and work and rehabilitation services, amounting to ‘the biggest shake-up of the prisons system since the Victorian era’, […]

Put on the spot

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[…] occasionally, allegedly, smuggled in by corrupt prison staff. There is currently widespread concern about the increased availability of legal highs – especially synthetic cannabinoids – in most prisons, revealed by a series of prison inspection reports and a briefing by the prison drug treatment provider, RAPt. Admission to both prison health care and local […]

Joining the Dots

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Improving systems to ensure that people leaving prison are motivated and supported to engage with community services is a priority for both the government and the sector. Ilo Edwin and Sarah Clowes describe how the Forward Trust is trying to address the challenge. The high risk of relapse and reoffending amongst substance-misusing offenders and their […]

Justice Served

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[…] response to the national drug strategy.  These are mostly working on a local authority level and are chaired by directors of public health, making the involvement of prisons – which operate across local authority areas – challenging. The partnerships will also have to implement the ‘three strikes’ response to drug testing currently being contemplated […]

DDN March2021

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[…] bamblinb problem. What’s more, 57 per cent of respondents think that support to address bamblinb harm should be offered in prison. The survey took place in 14 prisons durinb Aubust and September 2020. While a relatively small amount of people said that bamblinb directly contributed to the reason they are in prison (4 per […]

DDN2302

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[…] cells and communal areas, will allow information slots on issues like drug awareness to be broadcast to the entire prison estate, says the Home Office, with those prisons that already have radio stations noting an ‘increased positive engage- ment with the regime and staff’. Prison radio is also seen as a useful pathway into […]

DDN060227

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[…] of need | Edinburgh shakes up drug and alcohol ser vices |Mentor UK invites entries for alcohol prevention |Pharmacists want greater prescribing freedom on controlled drugs | Prisons conference shapes agenda |NTA remains champion to 2008 and beyond | Creative challenge for Hep C | 4 Features Cover story A new script for nurses […]

DDN1606

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[…] world’s youth.’ News in Brief Prison drug treatment needs ‘overhaul’ A COMPLETE OVERHAUL of the government’s approach is necessary to address the issue of drug use in prisons, according to a new report from the Centre for Policy Studies. Political will and an ‘intelligence-based approach’ will be needed if the government is to eliminate […]

Drugs behind ‘huge increase’ in prison violence

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[…] ‘huge increase’ in violence across the prison estate has taken place in the last five years, according to the latest annual report from the chief inspector of prisons. As well as coinciding with substantial reductions in staff numbers, the ‘ready availability of drugs in too many of our prisons sits behind much of the […]

Government seeks to address prisons crisis with extra staff

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[…] jails are performing’ in getting them off drugs and giving them basic education and employment skills. The white paper also includes measures to introduce no-fly zones over prisons to stop drones being used to drop drugs inside the prison walls, as well as extra sniffer dogs. Prisons should be ‘places where offenders get off […]

Through the gate

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Sue Reynolds, the clinical lead of sub­stance misuse at HMP Littlehey, tells DDN about joining the growing number of prisons to introduce a life-saving take-home naloxone pro­gramme for prisoners upon release HMP/Young Offender Institute (YOI) Littlehey is a purpose-built category C prison which holds convicted and sentenced adults and young adults. The average number […]

DDN060522

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DDN230407

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[…] most widely available form of support for prisoners with a drinking problem is Alcoholics Anonymous – yet AA groups only operate in around half of all UK prisons. AC has called for ring-fenced funding to ‘kick-start’ the development of alcohol interventions in prisons, and for structured throughcare for prisoners with alcohol dependency. The charity […]

DDNjan11

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[…] are encouraged to seek treatment at every opportunity in their contact with the criminal justice system. It will also pilot ‘wing-based, abstinence focused, drug recovery services’ in prisons and encourage more offenders to become recovery champions, with more detail in the Ministry of Justice green paper, Breaking the cycle: effective punishment, rehabilitation and sentencing […]

Prisoners dying ‘preventable deaths’ because of NPS, says ombudsman

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Prisoners are dying ‘preventable deaths – particularly as a result of the alarming levels of drug abuse in jails’, says the annual report of the prisons and probation ombudsman. Acting ombudsman Elizabeth Moody said she was ‘gravely concerned’ at the destructive impact of NPS, with some prisons and their health providers ‘struggling to learn’ from […]

NPS penalties for prisoners

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[…] enforce a zero tolerance approach’ towards NPS. ‘Go onto any prison wing and staff will tell you that whilst we’ve made good headway on drug misuse in prisons, there’s a new phenomenon they are increasingly seeing in the form of so-called “legal highs”,’ he said. ‘What we’re also hearing is that these substances seem […]

No place for a child

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Why are children starting their lives in prison when there are viable community solutions available to get their mothers back on track, asks Hannah Shead. Six hundred pregnant women enter a prison every year in the UK and about a hundred babies are born inside, despite the fact that the prison environment may pose particular […]

DDN050711

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[…] 2005 | drinkanddrugsnews | 5 Drug crime link The drugs crime link has driven everything forward, NTA chief executive P aul Hayes told the Sentenced to Tr eatment conference in London. ‘It’s the reason everyone here is in a job,’ he told delegates. Acknowledging the improvements needed in the prison system, Mr Hayes said the NTA’s new three-year strategy would engage at all stages, through arrest, remand, community and custodial sentencing and release. ‘We need to join up systems to get an integrated system of care in prisons,’ he said. Joint work between the Home Office and PCTs would increase the likelihood of prisoners accessing the treatment they needed. An effective treatment needed capacity and the system was on track to double by 2008. Waiting times were being reduced from ten weeks to two, and the NTA had a goal to hold people in treatment for three months or more. Progression was high on the agenda: ‘it’s not enough to dose them up with methadone and forget about them,’ said Mr Hayes. ‘They need to get their kids back, get into education and health systems, move towards being employed.’ […]

DDN2210

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[…] mental health and drug addiction problems that in many cases have led to their convictions,’ she said. See the next DDN for full reports from the ‘ Prisons and beyond’ conference about managing substance misuse in prison Mediterranean liquid diet Binge drinking, once thought to be the preserve of northern European countries like the […]

DDN050711

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[…] engage at all stages, through arrest, remand, community and custodial sentencing and release. ‘We need to join up systems to get an integrated system of care in prisons,’ he said. Joint work between the Home Office and PCTs would increase the likelihood of prisoners accessing the treatment they needed. An effective treatment needed capacity […]

DDN231006

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Partner up

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[…] period in prison drug treatment. ‘I started as a volunteer, progressing to CARAT worker, CARAT manager and then eastern area manager, overseeing 11 drug treatment services in prisons across the East of England,’ she says. So was the drugs sector something she’d always been interested in? ‘Not specifically. I always knew I’d work with […]

Government unveils major prison reforms

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Sweeping reforms of the prison system were announced as part of last month’s Queen’s Speech, including the establishment of six autonomous ‘reform prisons’. Governors at these will have ‘unprecedented’ freedom in terms of budgets, education and work and rehabilitation services, amounting to the ‘biggest shake-up’ of the system since the Victorian era, the government […]

Case dismissed

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[…] of the deaths resulted from overdose, yet the community policy of maximising access to naloxone (to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose) still hasn’t reached English prisons. Only 12 per cent of prisoners who were previously dependent on heroin left prison with naloxone in 2017-18 because of reluctance among NHS providers to fund […]

Government unveils ‘landmark’ prison and courts bill

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The government has published its prison and courts bill, which it says will pave the way for the ‘biggest overhaul of prisons in a generation’. The bill ‘underpins’ measures in the prison reform white paper (DDN, December 2016, page 5), setting in law for the first time that ‘a key purpose’ of prisons is […]

Doing what works

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Katy Swaine Williams and José Aguiar discuss much-needed steps to reform women’s justice. Too many women are imprisoned unnecessarily in the UK, many on remand or serving short sentences, and most for non-violent offences. For many of these women, drug and alcohol issues are intimately connected with their offending behaviour. In turn, problematic substance use […]

DDN050725

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[…] white drug users outnumber blacks by a five to one margin, blacks comprise 62.7 per cent and whites 36.7 per cent of all drug offenders in state prisons. In Illinois, the state with the highest rate of black male drug offenders behind bars, a black man is 57 times more likely to be sent […]

DDN2march10

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[…] wanting to get deeply involved in the project, he’s gone on to facilitate more than 2,000 of the 14,000 meetings held in Massachusetts, 700 of them in prisons. ‘I’m a physician but my professional interests are internal medicine and pain management,’ he says. ‘I didn’t know a thing about addiction. I thought I did, […]

DDN1128

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[…] Prison Service re-tendering exercise, RAPt has been awarded 14 new drug service units to provide CARAT Services and accredited 12-step based Substance Abuse Treatment Programme in HM Prisons across England. We are therefore undergoing a major expansion, offering many exciting opportunities to become part of one of the country’s foremost providers of drug treatment […]

DDN060424

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[…] maintaining and refining delivery, he said, demonstrating staff competence through DANOS and being more creative in the way RAPt delivered services – particularly in developing services outside prisons. ‘We have some good practice and models, but we’re not doing enough outside release,’ said Mr Trace. Understanding outcomes better was now a key priority he […]

DDN080908

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[…] under-prescribing remains rife in spite of the publication of two ‘Orange books’ guides on clinical care of drug users. The quality of care for drug users in prisons has improved beyond measure over recent years – yet still there are no needle exchange services in spite of a government commitment to ensure that prisoners […]

DDN050725

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[…] David Clark Douglas Husak argues that the injustice of criminalisation provides a strongr eason to abandon punitive drug policies. He also argues that prohibition has caused a great deal of harm because it is counterproductive. He describes a number of bad consequences that are caused as a result of insisting that illicitdrug users be punished.  Husak views racial bias as perhaps the most scandalous aspect of the punitive drug policy of the US. Eventhough white drug users outnumber blacks by a five to one margin, blacksc omprise 62.7 per cent and whites 36.7 per cent of all drug offenders in state prisons. In Illinois, the state with the highest rate of black male drug offenders behind bars, a black man is 57 times more likely to be sent to prison on drug charges than a white man. The disparity in punishment for possession of powder and crackc ocaine is further evidence of racism in US drug policy. Whilst a first time offender convicted of possessing more than five grams of crack receives a mandatory sentence of five years imprisonment, 500 grams of powderc ocaine are needed before offenders r eceive a comparable sentence. About 90 per cent of federal crack offenders are black, whilst almost 50 per cent of […]

Don’t release prisoners on a Friday, urges ACMD

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[…] increases the risk of relapse or overdose, which is particularly high in the first weeks after release. More than 11,000 people were released on a Friday from prisons in England and Wales in the first six months of 2018, as this includes prisoners whose release dates fall on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday […]

DDN041206

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[…] project was taking place on naloxone. Giving prisoners access to care plans had been an important priority for Phoenix Futures, who ran the contract for most Scottish prisons, said Ms Parker. Care after release included a contract with service providers that accounted for prisoners’ reduced tolerance. Information on harm reduction was being distributed, through […]

DDN0505

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[…] www.drinkanddrugs.net 5 May 2008 | drinkanddrugsnews| 5 Third wave of prison treatment approved The third waveof Department of Health funding for the integrated drug treatment system for prisons (IDTS) has been approved for treatment in 38 more prisons, following implementation in 53 prisons in the first and second waves. IDTS aims to provide more […]

DDN120109

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[…] McPhee, lecturer in postgraduate alcohol and drugs studies, University of the West of Scotland IDTS is an asset to prison nursing Drug treatment has been available in prisons for many years, but has not always been successful. In 2006, the prison Integrated Drug Treatment System (IDTS) was introduced to provide evidence-based drug treatment for […]

DDN090209

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[…] carr y a five- year sentence, while selling the drug could mean 14 years in prison, with ‘stiffer penalties’ for selling near schools, mental health facilities or prisons. Release has described the on-the-spot fines as ‘little more than a cynical money raising exercise, which will likely serve to punish those least able to pay.’ […]

DDN1805

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[…] I would be happy to arrange a cost- free confidential visit for her. Kenneth Eckersley, CEO Addiction Recovery Training Services ‘ D rug use is illegal in prisons, therefore there is no drug use in prisons, therefore we don’t need to provide drug ser vices for prisoners.’ This was a quote heard by a […]

Creating a future

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[…] and understand different ways to cope.’ Another participant called it ‘a bright light in a dark place’, and this was the intention of Louise Scherdel, Addaction’s Lincolnshire Prisons service manager, when she wrote and developed the programme under the supervision of Andrew Beaver, operations manager at Grantham Community Service. ‘Our ultimate goal on the […]

Government sets out ‘zero tolerance’ policy to drugs in prison

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[…] approach to drugs’ forms a central part of the government’s proposed new prison strategy, launched the day after its ten-year drug strategy, From harm to hope (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/government-announces-largest-ever-increase-in-treatment-funding). Prisons will have a ‘zero-tolerance approach to drugs’ All prisoners will be assessed on arrival for drug and alcohol issues, says the Prisons strategy white paper, with […]

DDN060605

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DDN250906

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[…] eighties, when ignorance about HIV/AIDS caused so much stigma and fear, that Una became assistant director of the Standing Conference On Drug Abuse where she helped educate prisons and prisoners about the issues involved. She co-authored a staff training manual that helped bring about a more con- sidered approach to the treatment of individuals […]

DDN150107

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[…] value of targeting the ‘high crime- causing user’. Mr Wheelhouse said there would be tougher responses to breaches, and closer working and information sharing with probation and prisons to prolific and other priority offenders (PPOs). There was still a need to align DIP and PPO schemes more closely with more routine cross-referencing, to make […]

DDN060116

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[…] Andy Stonard in his capacity as Chair of Conference Consor tium, to rectify a misunderstanding that has arisen in the publicity material for our for thcoming conference Prisons and Beyond (16-17 February 2006). I am happy to do so. Prisons and Beyond is being organised by the National Offender Management Ser vice and is […]

DDN2807

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[…] of the total.’ A ‘new approach to identification’ would therefore see legislation introduced to enable the sharing of information between job centres, the police, probation services and prisons. Drug users on benefits would be required to see a specialist employment advisor and draw up a rehabilitation plan with their help. The government is also […]

Back to life

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Turning Point’s volunteer scheme to help people prepare for release from prison has been a pathway to paid employment – and a source of highly valued staff for the organisation, says Eoin Bolger. When Billy got arrested with five kilos of cocaine on the M5 in 2019, he could never have imaged that four years […]

Comment from the substance misuse sector

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[…] in prison have addiction issues and many suffer mental health problems. The government drug strategy sets out ambition to tackle substance abuse by building recovery communities within prisons and beyond, but I am saddened at the lack of recovery groups, which could seriously reduce the reoffending rate. Is it really so difficult to start […]

Former Minister Rory Stewart calls for an end to short-term prison sentences

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[…] addiction who have turned their lives around. Co-presented by film star Jason Flemyng and Forward Trust Director Julie Muir, Series 2 opens with an interview with former Prisons Minister Rory Stewart.  Former Prisons Minister Rory Stewart.  Now no longer constrained by government office, Rory Stewart is quizzed on how he views the problem of […]

DDN051031

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[…] state benefits. The first time a person tried heroin was usually with drug using peers and 18 | drinkanddrugsnews| 31 October 2005 www.drinkanddrugs.net Classified |education and services Prisons and beyond... Ramada Hotel, Leicester16-17 February, 2006 Organised by NOMS Prison Drug Strategy Unit, in association with the Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals (FDAP) and […]

DDN0405

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[…] ‘Similarly those caught smuggling drugs into prison should receive higher sentences because of the impact on prisoners fighting drug addiction and the threat to good order in prisons,’ it says. The panel also calls for an end to the long sentences given to drug couriers for their ‘minor roles in smuggling operations’, as they […]

DDN_November_2023

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Unlocking the Past

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[…] for life, they should be used as learning structures not crutches. Mental health problems are for life, but addictions can stop. People need to realise addictions are prisons and the pursuit of drugs is slavery. Childhood trauma cannot be cured by drugs. Personal support and understanding should go a long way. Seventy per cent […]

Lines of communication

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[…] activist in the late ’80s and early ’90s, in 1993 he took a job in what remains the only community-based HIV project in Canada working exclusively in prisons. ‘I was one of the first staff they hired when they got funding,’ he says. ‘I had no background in HIV, but I knew prisons and […]

DDN2303

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[…] line’ in its guidance. ‘There’s a clear absence there that needs to be addressed,’ he acknowledged. There was also the highly charged issue of needle exchanges in prisons. ‘They definitely should be in prisons,’ stressed Chris Ford. ‘Needles are already in prisons, and they’re the contaminated ones,’ commented one delegate. 23 March 2009 | […]

Letters

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The DDN letters page, where you can have your say. The next issue of DDN will be out on 6 October — make sure you send letters and comments to claire@cjwellings.com by Wednesday 24 September to be included. Letters may be edited for space or clarity – please limit submissions to 350 words.   Mind the prejudice After […]

DDN2303

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[…] line’ in its guidance. ‘There’s a clear absence there that needs to be addressed,’ he acknowledged. There was also the highly charged issue of needle exchanges in prisons. ‘They definitely should be in prisons,’ stressed Chris Ford. ‘Needles are already in prisons, and they’re the contaminated ones,’ commented one delegate. 23 March 2009 | […]

Inside Out

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[…] published in 2014 and using data from the Police National Computer (PNC) database, showed a 31 per cent reconviction rate for graduates of our programmes in male prisons, an 18 per cent drop in reconviction rates and a 65 per cent reduction in the volume of re-offending. The establishment of the Justice Data Lab […]

‘Whole-system approach’ needed to tackle prison drug deaths

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The prevention of deaths in custody and after release needs to be ‘central to all work on substance misuse in the criminal justice system’, according to a report from the Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody (IAPDC) and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). A whole-system approach is needed to prevent drug and […]