Scottish prisons admit they don’t test for legal highs
25 Jan 2017
Scottish jails haven’t introduced equipment to test prisoners suspected of taking legal highs, even though technology is being rolled out across other parts of the UK.
In England, hundreds of sniffer dogs have been trained to detect new psychoactive substances along with testing in jails.
And in a white paper, the UK Government said testing was being carried out in “all prisons”.
But in a parliamentary answer to the Scottish Conservatives, chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service Colin McConnell said no such progress had been made north of the border.
He said: “The SPS does not test for New Psychoactive Substances. There are significant challenges around the detection and identification of NPS compounds and the availability of up-to-date testing kits due to the variants of such substances constantly changing.”
He added the organisation had “adopted a therapeutic approach” to the issue.
So-called legal highs are becoming increasingly prevalent across the country, with deaths and hospital admissions increasing each year.
It also emerged earlier this month that the number of prisoners caught with illegal substances had hit a seven-year high.
Shadow justice secretary Douglas Ross, who asked the Parliamentary Question, said the chances of inmates being properly rehabilitated would be hampered unless the number of new psychoactive substances finding their into prison was dealt with.
Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Douglas Ross said:
“New psychoactive substances are a major problem in prison, and society as a whole.
“It’s therefore quite remarkable to learn there is no testing in place for these in Scottish prisons.
“This is despite the fact jails south of the border are moving ahead with this.
“People expect prisons to be absolutely secure, and are understandably angry that so many illegal items – as well as legal high substances – find their way in with such ease.
“The Scottish Government should be following England’s lead and making sure we can force these dangerous substances out of prisons altogether.”
Below is the parliamentary response from the Scottish Government:
24 January 2017 (Holding Reply Issued 24 January 2017)
Index Heading: Learning and Justice
Douglas Ross (Highlands and Islands) (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party): To ask the Scottish Government which new psychoactive substances the Scottish Prison Service tests for when prisoners are subject to a drugs test.
S5W-05991
Michael Matheson:
I have asked Colin McConnell, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:
The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) does not test for New Psychoactive Substances (NPS). There are significant challenges around the detection and identification of NPS compounds and the availability of up-to-date testing kits due to the variants of such substances constantly changing.
SPS has adopted a therapeutic approach, alongside professional case management and the utilisation of existing drug testing powers to manage this evolving issue.
———-
However, only yesterday, UK justice secretary Elizabeth Truss said in answer to a question at Westminster:
“My hon. Friend is absolutely right that psychoactive substances have had a serious effect in our prisons: the prisons and probation ombudsman described them as a “game changer”, which is why we have now rolled out testing to deal with those substances. We have extra sniffer dogs to deal with them as well, and we are making progress.”
And in a UK Government White Paper published in November on prison safety and reform, it was confirmed that hundreds of drug detection dogs had been trained to sniff-out legal highs, adding: “In September, following a successful pilot in 34 prisons over the summer, we introduced nationwide mandatory testing for specified psychoactive substances in all prisons.”
The Scottish Conservatives revealed the number of prisoners caught with illegal substances hit a seven-year high in 2016:
http://www.scottishconservatives.com/2017/01/drug-use-in-jail-hits-7-year-high/