WHAT THOSE NEEDLES DO

There are few votes to be had in looking out for the interests of
prison inmates. But in light of new research, it has never been
clearer that politicians are not just endangering criminals with
their refusal to do so but also costing the rest of us.

Official policy is to keep illegal drugs out of jails. This is an
admirable goal, but it does not appear to be working. Whether through
employees or visitors, narcotics have a way of making it into
prisons. And when inmates use them, they do so with an even higher
risk than drug users on the outside.

According to a new study published in the Canadian Medical
Association Journal, a 2.1-per-cent rate of HIV infection among
Ontario adult inmates surveyed in 2003-04 was 11 times higher than
that of the general population. Ontario prisoners' rate of infection
with hepatitis C was 17.6 per cent, 22 times higher than on the
outside. The results were even more alarming in Quebec, where the HIV
rate was 19 times higher than in the general population and the rate
of hepatitis C 23 times higher.

In the Quebec portion of the study, more than 90 per cent of those
infected with HIV or hepatitis C reported a past history of injection
use. Concluding that "injection drug use was by far the most
important risk factor for both HIV and HCV infections," its authors
recommended "harm-reduction measures" alongside prevention, disease
testing and education. Peter Ford, a doctor and researcher who
contributed to the Ontario study, made the outright case for needle
exchanges. "It's not rocket science to figure out that if you clean
up the way somebody's doing something ... then you're going to save
people transmitting infection, particularly hepatitis," he told The
Globe and Mail. "It's even less rocket science to figure out that if
you actually issue clean syringes, as opposed to the one the whole
range is sharing, you're going to get a lot less transmission of disease."

But even given the new research, government officials continue to
reject such a program. Some suggest that funds are better spent
elsewhere; others say the needles pose a threat because they can be
used by inmates as weapons.

Both of these excuses are nonsense. While it is true that needles can
be used to assault guards and other prisoners, the reality is that
they are in jails regardless; the only question is whether they are
clean or dirty. As for the cost, it is far more expensive to pay for
disease treatment than it is to administer a simple needle-exchange
program - and that doesn't even take into account the social costs.
Those who find it hard to muster sympathy for drug-addicted criminals
who infect each other would do well to consider that most of them are
not in jail forever, and that when they get out many will spread
their infections further.

Sadly, the logic is consistently lost on governments looking to score
political points. Last December, the federal government cancelled a
pilot program that offered tattoos to inmates to discourage them from
getting them from other prisoners, often with dirty needles. Public
Safety Minister Stockwell Day claimed at the time that internal
research had shown the tattoos were "not an efficient use of taxpayer
dollars." But the following month, Mr. Day was contradicted by a
leaked draft copy of a Correctional Service Canada evaluation stating
that the program had "demonstrated potential to reduce harm, reduce
exposure to health risk, and enhance the health and safety of staff
members, inmates and the general public."

"Our priority is to have an effective federal corrections system that
protects Canadians," Mr. Day said when he cancelled the tattoo
program. The government should understand that limiting the spread of
deadly disease, be it through drug use or back-room tattooing,
precisely fits that aim.