NEEDLE EXCHANGE MISSES THE POINT

The front-page story in Wednesday's Herald (outlining a planned free
needle exchange program for incarcerated inmates) defines one of the
critical problems with the modern-day justice system.

The key argument supporting the needle exchange concept is not that
different from the one made on this side of prison bars: it costs a
lot to look after someone with HIV/AIDS, and the cost of preventing
the transmission of blood-borne disease offsets the cost of the
exchange program.

We are not about to argue the cost-benefit analysis performed by very
qualified individuals. It's a valid argument, and one of the key
reasons why needle exchange programs can work when combined with other
strategies.

But a critical point emerges, albeit one that has dogged the prison
system for decades.

Prisoners are people whose rights have been limited or stripped by the
state as a consequence of crimes. Many of the crimes and the criminal
behaviour exhibited by those now behind bars have a direct link to
drug use. Yet here we are discussing how to make it safer for
prisoners to do drugs they shouldn't be doing in the first place.

It's pretty clear that current efforts to curb drug use in prisons
have failed dismally. In a perfect world, the criminals in jails would
not be able to use drugs and, perhaps, be able to take programs to
assist them in kicking their habit.

We're not about to naively suggest that the prison system is lax.
Considerable energy goes towards stopping the flow of drugs into
prisons, but it still happens.

Instead, why can't we simply ask the justice system to be proactive:
include a clause in sentences whereby the prisoner must pass three
successive random drug tests prior to their release in order to step
into the outside world.

We're supposed to be rehabilitating these individuals and, perhaps,
teaching prisoners some merits of personal responsibility. If they
can't figure out their lives in jail, how can they be expected to
figure out their lives on the outside?

Clearly, if the drug use that is so often a key factor in a criminal's
behaviour hasn't changed, why would the criminal behaviour itself?

Fail the test, stay in jail. That seems to place personal onus on the
criminal's shoulders where it belongs.