JAIL DRUG WAR BOTTLED UP

THE war against drugs in Victoria's prisons goes hi-tech next week
with the introduction of a urine test in a bottle that detects illicit
drugs within minutes.

Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said previous urine tests could take
up to three days to return a result, presenting a temptation for
prisoners to cause trouble while authorities were waiting for proof of
their drug use.

The test is built into the sample bottle and works much like a litmus
test, immediately indicating if drugs are present.

Prison officers have said some minimum-security inmates have escaped
and gone on the run while waiting for their drug results to be returned.

Mr Haermeyer said the six-month trial would mean the testing of
minimum-security prisoners at one prison before the program was
extended to three other minimum security prisons in Victoria.

The measure is part of a security and drugs crackdown at Victoria's
prisons, with more than 30,000 urine tests conducted on prisoners last
financial year.

Mr Haermeyer said prisoners who recorded a positive result would be
moved to a more secure or isolated unit until pathology tests were
returned.