DRUG OVERDOSES IN PRISONS

OTTAWA - In response to a recent written question by Opposition House
Leader Randy White, Solicitor General Lawrence MacAuley admitted there
had been five incidents of drug overdoses in federal prisons in 1998.
Of the five drug overdoses, one occurred at a minimum security
facility (Elbow Lake), two occurred at medium security prisons (Bath
and Leclerc Institutions), and two at maximum security facilities
(Millhaven and Kingston Penitentiaries).

"It's bad enough that we have a drug problem in our prisons that this
government seems to ignore, but how are inmates getting enough drugs
to overdose in maximum security prisons?" asked White. Over half of
inmates surveyed as part of a government report on drug use in prison
indicated they knew of other inmates who used drugs on a regular
basis. "These aren't recreational drug users in most cases.

They are obviously being supplied with massive amounts of drugs right
under the noses of prison guards and officials."

White added both Canada Corrections, and the Solicitor General, have
failed to develop solutions to curb this problem. "Corrections calls
for zero tolerance for drugs in prison and then provides bleach for
the inmates to clean their needles," said White. "MacAuley is
constructing a brand new facility in his own riding to study the drug
problem in prisons - in a province that has no prisons!

And instead of using one of the 11 vacant buildings next door in
Summerside, PEI, he is having a new building erected with a 50 year
lifespan. Is that how long he is planning to take to solve this
problem?"

The federal Liberals have proven not only that they cannot deal with
the drug problem, but they will not.

"Reform's solution to the problem includes: zero tolerance meaning
zero tolerance, consecutive sentences for those inmates who push drugs
inside prison, and prisons dedicated to drug and alcohol
rehabilitation and counseling. We need to institute policies that
deter and eliminate the problem, instead of the constant Liberal cycle
of rhetoric, patronage and empty promises," said White.