PRISONS NEED TO GET RID OF DRUGS

Not Many People Will Remember Richard Speck, So We'll Refresh Your
Memory.

In 1966, he murdered eight nurses in Chicago on one horrible night. He
died in prison in 1991, and the final outrage was the revelation of a
videotape that showed the mass murderer snorting cocaine, drinking
booze and partying it up with his "friend."

Years later we were all treated to video of a prison costume party
attended by that degenerate Karla Homolka.

Apparently, he did and she does whatever they want in prison. The same
seems to be true in many B.C. prisons.

A news item from earlier this week stated that cellblocks at Kent and
Mission Institutions were locked down due to violence and other
incidents. Those other incidents included seizures of alcohol, drugs
and weapons.

Now we realize that making a shiv is pretty easy in
prison.

Any sharp object can be turned into a weapon, but excuse our na(vete
for being angry about inmates having loads of drugs and alcohol on
them.

This is a memo to the staff who run our prison system - hey, it's a
prison! Going to prison means you aren't supposed to get high on drugs
and drunk on booze.

It's those addictions that caused many of them to become criminals in
the first place.

We haven't been in a medium or maximum security prison lately, but
we're guessing that they live in small cells surrounded by walls and
bars.

Not exactly a lot of space to search for drugs and alcohol. And how
exactly are these inmates getting this stuff into the prisons? Anyone
in charge of running a prison should be humiliated that this stuff is
being smuggled in right under their noses.

Conservative MP Randy White, the party's solicitor general critic, has
studied the system extensively and makes the shocking claim that some
of the stuff is being smuggled in by prison staff, as well as by
friends and family of inmates during conjugal visits.

"Senior staff seem more interested in keeping peace," White
says.

Perhaps a more docile prison population is easier to handle, but this
is an outrage that governments seem unwilling to try and stop. White
says he has been calling for a prison inquiry for eight years. Add our
voice to that chorus.