Rise in prison drug seizures reported in England and Wales

According to the ministry of justice, the rate of drug seizures in prison has increased a considerable amount.

From 2010 to 2011, there were just under 4,000 substances abused as opposed to 2013 to 2014 where the number was an exact 4,500.

A substance known as “Spice” has seen an increase in being smuggled into prisons. A cheaper version of cannabis, Spice is harder to detect with the current security equipment used in prisons.

The spokesperson for the ministry of justice has shown different perspective to this news, stating that the fact that so many drugs are being seized show that the security measures in place are working successfully.

Security measures have included the use of sniffer dogs.

The spokesperson also added that inmates testing positive for drugs has decreased in the past 15 years.

However, 64 per cent of inmates were drug users.

Stating that the drug laws of the UK are futile, a spokesperson for the drugs policy foundation Transform stated: “If we cannot keep drugs out of prisons, what hope is there for success elsewhere? This is the inevitable result of the combination of a lucrative business and a captive customer base who are desperate to mentally escape.”

                                                                                                                 Halimat Shode