Drug Abuse In Prisons

The number of prisoners incarcerated for drug related and drug influenced crimes has significantly increased over the last two decades. Using drugs inside a prison is a terrifying thing to think about. How is it that under the order of law and in a highly restricted environment, drug use is still possible? It is due to a number of reasons: overcrowded prisons, stealthy smuggling, concealed manufacturing, prison gangs and corruption. Some of the ways drugs are smuggled into prison, is by human bodies. The drugs can also be thrown over the prison walls in tennis balls, dead birds, footballs or just about anything that can be thrown. Often they are smuggled in by visitors, who find various creative ways to leave them. Without adequate supervision it is possible for inmates to smuggle and produce drugs. The many riots are drawing bad public attention in the overcrowded prison crisis.
New intakes, visitors and tactful transporting result in drugs infiltrating prison walls. Intakes and visitors, such as wives and girlfriends, go to extreme measures to find ways to smuggle the drugs without guards noticing. They can skillfully hide drugs in cavities and illusive hiding places. Finding ways to import drugs through the mail are less successful but do occur.
Here are some ways they can be smuggled in:
“Drugs can be hidden inside of cell phones, books, clothing, and even under a postage stamp. They can be left in bathrooms where inmates doing job duties can pick them up. Also some of the Correctional Officers might smuggle some in. By putting drugs in small bags they can be exchanged during visits, in food, dropped or put in just about any container to be retrieved later. One inventive way of smuggling is to take the pimento out of an olive and put a tiny red bag of heroin where the pimento usually lies. Drugs can be put under layers of cheese on pizza. Drugs can be put in cell phones. Some prison gangs will put pressure on visitors, directly threatening them if they don’t bring drugs in.”(Shively 37)
The people who go to jail doing drugs and/or selling drugs are addicted. Drugs coming in to prison isn’t helping anyone or anything perhaps it is making things worst. Prisoner might start their again even if they’ve stopped recently. Drugs in prison are destructive. If you get put in prison for doing drugs it is better to refrain them and let the brain heal. If an inmate in jail has an addiction seeing drugs in such a confined place will start wanting for them and doing almost anything to get them. When they get out of jail and you were using drugs or were around them it usually leads to you criminal activity or parole. Gangs have a heavy influence on drug trading, selling and production within prisons. They continue to grow in numbers and work as a team to elude prison guards of their activity. There are ideas of prisons guards being aware of the drug activity happening within prisons. The prison guards are the main one keeping the drugs in prison idea alive, they are beating and threatening and beating inmates. If they work together in a prison they can scheme easily .They also influence gangs and drug trading outside prison by communicating to the outside. Having drugs inside prison wall keeps the gangs and drugs life on the outside active. “Dealers have incentive to keep dealing and users have incentive to keep using.”(Shively 37) This is a bad combination. The violence and crime will continue to go up because of drugs being in prison.
Although drugs pose a major obstacle for programming and proven outcomes in prison, with an aggressive approach and a lot of staff education, changes can be made. They money they make from inmates using drugs in prison will go on forever. The prison staff needs to be educated on how drugs are smuggled in and how to stop them from coming. This major problem puts major risk for everyone’s safety. It is important to have more substance abuse education and treatment options available for addicted inmates. Inmates with serious addiction problems need to have those issues addressed in prison so that, upon release, they have hope and know how to live their lives both drug-free and crime-free. If not, they transfer their addictions to the streets, where they only feed their problems and increase the likelihood of going right back to prison.
“It is clear that drug abuse within federal and state prison is a dilemma.
It is said that due to the War on Drugs prisons are rapidly overcrowding causing a chain of effects of not only drug use, smuggling and manufacturing, but also of violence and riots. It seems to be a vicious cycle.” (Samuels para.7) Things that cause should be the main thing to focus on right now so they can stop the drugs in prison. Treatment programs are essential in prisons to help inmates get better. For the treatment to work the prisons need to be cooperative wanting to better themselves , and is it hard for them because of the prison vibes and violent behavior. In the end if it doesn’t work it will be hard to find a solution at this
time.