NCJ Number
184592
Date Published
1999
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This analysis of inmate marijuana use and of drug policies in Great Britain concludes that the normalization of the response to marijuana use is the only rational approach to achieving the government’s harm reduction strategy relating to drug misuse and recommends the abolition of mandatory monthly drug testing of 10 percent of prison inmates.
Abstract
Inmate drug abuse reflects drug use in the wider society. The issue should be health through treatment, counseling, and education rather than punishment, if marijuana use is regarded as having a medically or psychologically harmful impact on inmates. The current policies have contributed to the expansion of the prison population and established a counterproductive punitive and security-oriented framework for drug treatment. These approaches may also encourage a switch from marijuana to opiates among inmates anxious to avoid detection. Therefore, a more rational, just, and equitable response should replace current policies regarding inmate drug abuse. A treatment and education strategy should encourage class-A drug abusers to address their drug dependence in a supportive and non-punitive atmosphere. Prisons should also eliminate mandatory drug testing and retain random testing in the drug-free wings of prisons as a means of ensuring the safety and security of inmates attempting to withdraw from drug use. In addition, inmate marijuana use should remain a disciplinary offense in the same way that alcohol use is a disciplinary offense. Tables, reference notes, and attached membership form for the Howard League