DRUGS PLAGUE PRISON

Fort Saskatchewan jail guards have confiscated drug paraphernalia, needles,
cocaine and a hash pipe from their inmates in the past four months,
according to documents obtained by the Sun. And jail guards without
drug-detecting technology can't do much more to stop drugs coming in, says
the chairman of Local 3 of the AUPE.

"They're very imaginative in how they do things," said Mike Rennich. "They
will ingest it and then sit on the toilet and collect it out of the toilet
bowl.

More than 15 drug-related charges were laid against Fort Saskatchewan
prisoners since December.

And that means guards have to scrutinize everything, Rennich said.
Provincial jails in Alberta rely solely on urine testing and searches to
determine if a prisoner has been using drugs, he said.

Rennich said guards are worried about drug use prompting volatile behaviour
from inmates.

And if marijuana makes its way into cells, it's not much of a leap to
smuggle in cocaine, heroin and crack, he said.