NEEDLE PROGRAMS URGED FOR PRISONS

OTTAWA -- The federal prisons ombudsman says Public Safety Minister Anne
McLellan should order the establishment of needle-exchange programs in
penitentiaries.

Howard Sapers, officially known as the correctional investigator, said in
his annual report yesterday that the Correctional Service of Canada has
ignored such recommendations for years.

Sapers turned directly to McLellan this year.

He said drug use is rampant in prisons (in some places three-quarters of
inmates inject drugs) and clean-needle programs would reduce the spread of
diseases like hepatitis C and HIV.

"It's not a question of whether we condone it or not condone it," he said.
"This is a public-health issue," since infected inmates eventually get
released into the community.

His report also said McLellan should order the correctional service to
appoint a deputy commissioner for aboriginal inmates and to change a policy
that automatically makes prisoners sentenced to life serve their first two
years in maximum security, regardless of the risk they pose.