HEROIN USERS TOLD TO TAKE SLEEPING PILLS

Four out of five inmates arriving at Liverpool prison are heroin users, but
resources for treating them are "woefully inadequate", Sir David Ramsbotham,
the Chief Inspector of Prisons, says in a report published today.

The finding further illustrates the scale of the heroin problem gripping
Britain, and Sir David calls on the Prison Service to address the issue
urgently by providing increased funding and specialist staff.

He said heroin users experiencing withdrawal symptoms after being admitted
to the jail - also known as Walton - were offered a pack of four sleeping
pills. "We were informed that, frequently, prisoners took all four pills on
the first night, or either sold them on, or were intimidated into handing
them over to other prisoners."

The Chief Inspector praised staff working in difficult circumstances with
drug users, but said the prison needed a further review of its drug
strategy.

"Given the scale of the problems facing the prison, both in preventing drug
use within the establishment and with providing effective treatment and
rehabilitation services to such a large number of prisoners, the level of
existing resources were woefully inadequate," he said.

Drug tests were performed on inmates, but because staff did not carry them
out at weekends, "prisoners were able to plan their drug use to avoid giving
positive results".

Sir David was shocked to find that, despite the large numbers of heroin
users in the jail, staff were so wary of budget pressures that they did not
encourage inmates to be vaccinated against hepatitis B, which can be spread
by the shared use of needles. He said: "This contradicts government
recommendations and the prison's own drug strategy should be corrected
immediately."

The report was also critical of the facilities provided for receiving prison
visitors, and Sir David called for the jail's anti-bullying strategy to be
"thoroughly overhauled".

Martin Narey, the Prison Service director-general, pointed out that the jail
had the biggest population in England and Wales. He said a complete review
of the anti-bullying strategy was under way, and proposals for a new
visitors' centre had been drawn up.