REVEALED: HOW OUR JAILS CREATE A NEW GENERATION OF ADDICTS

THE extent of heroin abuse in Scottish jails is creating a new
generation of drug addicts and leading to a sense among staff that
they are powerless to curb the crisis.

A controversial report, commissioned by the Scottish Prison Service,
also contains accusations that some officers "turn a blind eye" to
drug use and see heroin as beneficial as it subdues inmates .

The 265-page study was handed to prison service chiefs in June this
year, but its findings have not previously seen the light of day.

Researchers questioned inmates and staff in groups and one-to-one
about the scale of drugs crisis in Scotland's prisons. Addictions
specialists were further surveyed on prison drugs policy.

Those questioned revealed a pattern of declining cannabis use and an
explosion in the prevalence of heroin use. But, in a damning
disclosure, the report states that new inmates who had never before
used heroin were starting to take it because of its accessibility and
as a means of escaping detection at drug tests.

In the most explosive of the revelations, prison staff reveal they
are being overwhelmed by the scale of the abuse, and inmates claim
some officers ignore drug taking even when they have seen it taking place.

The report also reveals that, of 60 addictions specialists surveyed,
49% believed the policy of mandatory drug testing had caused
prisoners to begin taking heroin.

Last night, Margaret Mitchell, the Scottish Tory justice spokeswoman,
said: "If it takes a glass partition at visiting times to stop drugs
getting into prisons then that's what will have to happen. I do not
see any reason why prisons cannot be drug-free."

Stewart Stevenson, SNP justice spokesman, described the report as a
"wake-up call". He added: "We are still simply sending people back to
the community to reoffend."

A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: "Drugs are a problem
outside of prisons and so that is reflected inside prisons. We spend
a lot of resources tackling the minority of people who choose to
introduce drugs into prison.

"But we are not complacent and will prosecute and report any
incidents to the police wherever possible."