MP SAYS FEDS LET DRUGS FUEL JAIL GANGS

OTTAWA -- The federal government's refusal to crack down on drugs in
jails is fueling the formation of new gangs behind bars, charges
Reform MP Randy White.

White said a recent report by Corrections Canada on the hike in gang
activity within prison walls is proof the federal government hasn't
taken any concrete steps to declare war on gangs and drugs in jail.

"We've got to get away from the feeling that the inmates' rights
prevail above the needs of a prison to operate soundly," White said.

Corrections' recent Productivity Report found 48 different gangs
thriving in federal prisons, some of them created behind bars. Of
those, 43 are also found outside jail - almost half of them brought
into society by freed inmates, the report found.

About 8.1% of the prison population are gang members, with the most
popular groups being bikers, aboriginal outlaws and street gangs, the
report says.

White said if Ottawa cracked down on drugs in prison, it would
eliminate the main reason gangs are created. "It takes away a lot of
the profit motive for gangs, for one thing," he said.

White said apart from crushing the lucrative drug-selling business,
prisons should isolate gang members or transfer them to other jails to
break up the membership.