ALMOST 30% IN JAIL TEST DRUG-POSITIVE

Nearly a third of prison inmates tested for drug use last year
returned a positive result.

Figures obtained from the Corrections Department, under the Official
Information Act, show of the 9838 drug tests done on inmates last
year, 2876 tested positive -- a strike-rate of 29 per cent.

That was a decrease from the previous year when 34.5 per cent, or
3241 inmates, tested positive.

The Press understands the department has set itself the goal of
getting the rate below 20 per cent.

Canterbury prisons tested 2295 inmates last year, the highest number
in the country, but the rate of positive tests was only 18 per cent.

In total, North Island prisons did at least 5000 more tests than
South Island prisons.

Mount Eden had the highest rate of positive tests at 44 per cent.

The drug used most commonly by inmates was cannabis, with 2780 cases.
The next closest was heroin, with 70 cases.

Over all, the Corrections Department spent $2.75 million on drug
testing, drug prevention, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation
programmes for inmates last year.

Corrections Minister Matt Robson said the figures showed initiatives
aimed at stopping drug use in prisons were working. "The trend is
down, so we will keep going," he said.

Eighty-three per cent of inmates had a substance abuse problem when
they entered prisons, so the Corrections Department spending was
justified.

Mr Robson said prisons such as Mount Eden had a particularly high
positive test rate because they were used for remand prisoners.

Corrections Association national organiser Brian Davies said it was
"bollocks" to suggest that a 5 per cent drop meant drug programmes
were working.

"It's a fairly high strike rate and I don't think they are doing
anywhere enough to bring it down," he said.

The department's recent legal battle against two staff members, which
cost $500,000, showed that it had the wrong spending priorities.

"Until such time that they beef up security to a level where people
on the street cannot throw tennis balls into prison recreational
areas, they will be on a hiding to nothing," Mr Davies said.

South Island Prisons regional manager Paul Monk said figures for this
year suggested the rate of positive drug tests could be 22 per cent
nationwide. The South Island generally had a lower rate than North
Island prisons.