WATCHDOG ABANDONS CAMPAIGN FOR NEEDLE EXCHANGE IN PRISONS

Canada's corrections watchdog is giving up on his push for
needle-exchange sites in prisons, saying the government isn't
interested in the evidence supporting the program and is focused on
its own zero-tolerance strategy.

Correctional Investigator Howard Sapers said several Canadian studies
have suggested the program would help reduce the spread of infectious
diseases in prisons.

But he said he's now looking for alternative ways to improve
prisoners' health.

"The government has made it clear that they will not be introducing
any prison-based needle exchanges in Canadian penitentiaries," Mr.
Sapers said Tuesday, following a parliamentary committee meeting about
drugs in prisons. "At some point, you move on."

The Correctional Service of Canada offers other harm-reduction tools
to prisoners, including condoms, dental dams and bleach for contraband
needles. It also provides methadone treatment to help wean heroin
addicts off the drug.

Mr. Sapers said the Public Health Agency of Canada and the
Correctional Service of Canada's health care advisory committee have
both suggested needle-exchange programs could further reduce the
spread of disease in prisons.

"I think it's safe to say that there's consensus that a needle
exchange has positive health outcomes. I think where there is
difficulty is how to integrate a needle exchange into a correctional
environment that is trying to achieve zero tolerance on contraband
drug use," he said.

Russ Toller, deputy commissioner of the Correctional Service of
Canada's transformation and renewal team, told the committee his
department can't keep its prisons drug-free.

"Zero tolerance, of course, is exactly where we're at. Unfortunately,
there are still methods and ways people get [drugs] in," he said.

HIV/AIDS rates are 10 times higher in prisons than in the general
population, while hepatitis C rates are 30 times higher, Mr. Toller added.

Candice Hoeppner, the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of
Public Safety, said she supports efforts to keep drugs out of prisons
and believes it's not clear that a needle-exchange program would be
beneficial.

She said the committee has heard from counsellors, inmates and
corrections workers who have advised against the program. "There was
certainly not a consensus at all."

Earlier this fall, the committee heard from a retired corrections
officer who expressed concern the needles could be used as weapons and
create new security problems in prisons.

Mr. Sapers first called for a needle-exchange program to be introduced
in prisons in 2004.