drugs in the prison system
i have been reading jeffrey archer's prison diaries- ive already read volume 1:hell and volume 2:purgatory so i just have volume 3:heaven to read. however, i wanted to write a blog post about it before i could even finish because jeffrey archer relates some shocking tales about drug abuse in the prison system that i cannot help but think about. no doubt, he was 'banged up' in the UK but i am sure that the same problems exist in the US (although definitely not in drug-free squeaky clean singapore) and many other Western countries.
in his diary, jeffrey archer talks about the rampant use of drugs by prison inmates. most of them get into prison for drugs- be it growing, pushing, or using- and being unable to rid themselves of their addiction, they continue to abuse drugs while serving time. the way that drugs are brought into prisons are quite imaginative to say the least but i rather you read the books to find out! i was much more concerned about the manner in which previously drug-free convicts first begin abusing drugs while in prison. with so much time on their hands and absolutely nothing to do, they are sucked in to the drug culture by their cell mates.
what is even more astonishing is that heroin (a far more dangerous drug) is the most common drug that felons abuse, far more so than cannabis. know why? all convicts are subject to a Mandatory Drug Test (MDT) randomly, and while cannabis can only be flushed out of the system after 28 days, heroin is flushed out of the system in a day by simply drinking copious amounts of water. since a positive MDT test increases your sentence by 28 days and involves a revoke of some of your prisoner privileges, inmates regard heroin as a safer option.
the problem is, heroin is not the safer option! heroin is addictive and the heroin available in prisons is highly diluted so inmates need greater quantities of it for the same effect. once they leave prison, a lot of them go straight back into the drug peddling business because the payouts are huge compared to the measly minimum wage vocational job they will be qualified for. the heroin outside prisons is much purer than the stuff inside so when prisoners inject themselves with the same quantity of heroin as they used to while on the inside, they die because the stuff is just too pure for their bodies to handle.
something needs to be done.
in his diary, jeffrey archer talks about the rampant use of drugs by prison inmates. most of them get into prison for drugs- be it growing, pushing, or using- and being unable to rid themselves of their addiction, they continue to abuse drugs while serving time. the way that drugs are brought into prisons are quite imaginative to say the least but i rather you read the books to find out! i was much more concerned about the manner in which previously drug-free convicts first begin abusing drugs while in prison. with so much time on their hands and absolutely nothing to do, they are sucked in to the drug culture by their cell mates.
what is even more astonishing is that heroin (a far more dangerous drug) is the most common drug that felons abuse, far more so than cannabis. know why? all convicts are subject to a Mandatory Drug Test (MDT) randomly, and while cannabis can only be flushed out of the system after 28 days, heroin is flushed out of the system in a day by simply drinking copious amounts of water. since a positive MDT test increases your sentence by 28 days and involves a revoke of some of your prisoner privileges, inmates regard heroin as a safer option.
the problem is, heroin is not the safer option! heroin is addictive and the heroin available in prisons is highly diluted so inmates need greater quantities of it for the same effect. once they leave prison, a lot of them go straight back into the drug peddling business because the payouts are huge compared to the measly minimum wage vocational job they will be qualified for. the heroin outside prisons is much purer than the stuff inside so when prisoners inject themselves with the same quantity of heroin as they used to while on the inside, they die because the stuff is just too pure for their bodies to handle.
something needs to be done.
posted by arvind at
5:52 am
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