Junkies stay hooked behind bars

Why are IV drug users in prison not being treated for their addiction? Why are they able to get drugs in prison? Note, even from a selfish standpoint of a non drug user, this is a vector for AIDS growth in the general community.

There is really no excuse for the failure to have proper addiction treatment programs in Canadian prisons.

ANDRÉ PICARD

From Friday's Globe and Mail October 10, 2008 at 10:05 AM EDT

Injection-drug users who are incarcerated are less likely to kick their habit than those who remain in the community, new Canadian research shows.

In fact, there is strong evidence that addicts who end up in jail are more likely to stay hooked longer and less likely to be treated for addiction, according to the research published in the medical journal Addiction.

"The simple explanation is that by incarcerating people, you limit their access to help," Evan Wood, a researcher at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS, said in an interview.

"While it may be politically popular to jail injection-drug users, it's not a very effective public health measure," he said.

The study followed 1,603 intravenous drug users in Vancouver for almost a decade. During the study period, 842 of them (just over half) stopped injecting drugs for a period of at least six months.

The data were derived from the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study, which has been ongoing since 1996. Two-thirds of the users spent time in jail at some point, mostly for drug-related crimes.

Researchers also tried to determine the effect of incarceration on drug use by focusing on the minority of IV drug users - one in five - who were incarcerated for the first time during the study period. Incarceration was defined as "being in detention, prison or jail overnight or longer in the previous six months.

"The paper showed that pre- and post-incarceration drug use was virtually the same. In other words, jailing drug addicts did not help them overcome addiction.

Researchers found that those who were jailed were 57 per cent less likely to give up drugs for a period of six months or more, compared with those who were not jailed.

The study also found that IV drug users with access to methadone programs (methadone is a drug used to wean heroin users from their addiction) were 62 per cent more likely to kick their drug habit for a period of six months or more. Methadone programs are available in the community but not in prison."This is a simple research paper, but it has an important message," Dr. Wood said.

"We need to look at the most effective solutions for dealing with drug crime," he said.

"Locking up drug addicts is ineffective."

According to the paper, 30 per cent of female prisoners and 14 per cent of male prisoners in Canadian federal penitentiaries are serving sentences for drug-related offences. The numbers are probably higher in provincial jails, but there are no good data.
James Morton