LEAVING JAIL IN THE US A DEADLY DEVELOPMENT

GETTING released from US prisons could be even more dangerous than
being in them.

Death and prison records from Washington state show that 30,237
convicts released from 1999 to 2003 were 12 times more likely to die
from a drug overdose and 10 times more likely to be murdered in a
two-year period than the general population.

"We know this is a population that has a higher rate of smoking,
higher rate of mental health problems, higher rate of chemical
dependency, and more risk-taking behaviour," said Ingrid Binswanger of
the University of Colorado.

"But you might not expect the higher death rate to be as dramatic as
it is," said Ms Binswanger, who led the study, to be published in this
week's New England Journal of Medicine.

The danger peaked sharply in the first few weeks of inmates'
transition back into their communities, she said.

During the two-week period immediately after release, compared with
years later, the ex-cons were: 29 times more likely to die from
cocaine, 34 times more likely to die from heroin, 15 times more likely
to be killed by alcohol, more than twice as likely to be gunned down
and nearly eight times more likely to commit suicide.

The extra drug deaths may be due to users' tolerance dropping in jail,
the study said.

The US has 2.2 million people behind bars -- about a quarter of all the
world's prisoners.