Drug Misuse (Prisons)

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Justice – in the House of Commons am 2:30 pm ar 10 Tachwedd 2009.

Danfonwch hysbysiad imi am ddadleuon fel hyn

Photo of Jack Straw Jack Straw The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice 2:30, 10 Tachwedd 2009

I cannot rule that out as a possibility, but the truth is that the overwhelming number of people who seek drugs and abuse them in prison are addicted to drugs outside prison. An alarming proportion of offenders-apart from, interestingly, sex offenders and the high-end offenders who are drug dealers rather than drug users-are people who abuse drugs. One of the many reasons why we make every effort to control the availability of drugs in prison and to increase the sanctions on their use is so that there can be drug-free environments. However, when I talk to prisoners, time and again they tell me that they have got clean in prison. They say that they have benefited from the medical treatment and the fact that drugs are not available there. They have got clean in prison but their worry, which should be a worry for us all, is about the transition between prison and the community. That is why we are putting a great deal of effort into that transitional process.