THE AVAILABILITY of drugs in the prison system is still at epidemic levels two years after a so-called drug-free prison regime and random drug testing were introduced, new figures obtained by The Irish Timesreveal.
The data, which has been released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows the number of drug tests carried in the jails has fallen since the new measures were introduced in late 2007.
One in three of the 27,227 drugs tests carried out last year across the prison system returned positive results for heroin, cocaine or cannabis. In some jails, more than half of those tested were positive for heroin and up to 94 per cent of inmates were on the heroin- replacement drug methadone.
The number of tests carried out was down from 33,400 in 2007.
Fine Gael spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan TD said the Government did not have the political will to tackle drugs in prisons. A drug-free regime had been promised more than five years ago. “The progress so far really has been minimal,” he said.
Labour’s spokesman on justice Pat Rabbitte TD described as “dispiriting” the lack of progress.
“The drug situation inside the prisons seems to reflect the situation outside, which is pretty grim,” he said.
The positive test rate in jails last year for illegal drugs is only three and four percentage points lower than in 2007 and 2006 respectively. This is despite a major clampdown across the prison system targeting the drugs problem since 2007.
Netting has been erected over exercise yards to prevent drugs being thrown in to inmates from outside the perimeter walls.
A comprehensive system of searching visitors for drugs has also been introduced including airport-style searching and the use of sniffer dogs.
Visits have also been much more closely monitored to prevent drugs being passed to inmates.
However, the new Department of Justice figures for drug testing last year shows the prison population is continuing to source very significant quantities of drugs.
There have been 696 drug seizures in the prisons this year to September 13th, with 302 of those recorded in Mountjoy.
Heroin was the most popular illegal drug in the jails last year followed by cannabis and cocaine, according to the results of drug testing last year.
The prison population is about 4,000 at any one time. Many inmates would have been tested a number of times last year. Some would have tested positive for a cocktail of drugs.