SCOTTISH PRISONS WORST IN UK FOR DRUG USE

Scottish prisons have a drugs problem that is far worse than those in
England, according to random tests earned out on inmates. An average of
roughly 20 per cent of English and Welsh prisoners are testing positive for
drugs in their bloodstream, but in one of Scotland's jails the proportion is
as high as 46 per cent.

It is also believed that heroin is a much bigger problem in Scottish jails
than in English and Welsh prisons, where only 4 per cent tested positive for
opiates last year. In Scottish institutions, heroin use is believed to be
three times as high.

The figures emerged on the eve of the publication of the Scottish Prison
Service's annual report which includes for the first time the overall
results of random mandatory drug testing. or MDT which has been in place in
all Scottish prisons since March 1997.

According to information obtained by 'The Scotsman', the most drug-ridden
prison in Scotland is the 50-cell National Induction Centre, which lies
within the perimeter walls of Shotts Prison.

In mandatory testing, 46 per cent of the NIC's inmates - all of them serving
sentences of eight years and over for murder, rape. drug dealing and other
serious crimes - tested positively for controlled substances.

The NIC's governor. John Gerrie, has already acknowledged the high results
but pointed out that it had to be seen against a background of the hardened
nature of most of the prisoners and the fact they were coping with the
prospect of a very long time behind bars.

Just behind the NIC, on 45 per cent, came Dungavel prison, a semi-open
establishment which houses only offenders in low security categories who are
already part way through their sentence.

The jail, based in a Gothic shooting lodge which formerly belonged to the
dukes of Hamilton, was until recently an open prison where restrictions on
inmates were minimal.

Next comes Dumfries young offenders' institution, which takes criminals
under 21 who have committed more serious crimes, where 40 per cent are
testing positive for drugs - suggesting a very strong link between drugs and
serious offending among young people. Dumfries's results are nearly double
those for Polmont YOI, which takes young people serving shorter sentences.

Of the long-term male prisons it has been Glenochil which has in the past
acquired a reputation for high drug use, but in fact only 31 per cent of its
inmates are testing positive, compared to 37 per cent in Shotts, and 35 per
cent in Perth.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett