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Free needles to help prisoners take Class A drugs behind bars? The latest solution to Scotland's drug death crisis from taxpayer-funded charity
Free needles and vapes should be handed out to prisoners so they can take Class A drugs in a safer way behind bars, a majority taxpayer-funded group has claimed.
The Scottish Drugs Forum – which received almost £2 million from the public purse last year – has suggested the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) should provide drug paraphernalia so inmates can inject narcotics in prison.
That is despite guards battling a drug crisis as more than a third of inmates have admitted taking illegal substances in prison, with more than a quarter saying their drug use only started – or increased – while in custody.
The 'appalling' suggestion comes just weeks after The Mail told how drones found laden with drugs and needles had been flown into jails, as organised crime groups target addicts in the prison estate.
The forum's plan – set out as Health Secretary Neil Gray last week said a heroin shooting gallery in Glasgow may be extended to allow addicts to inhale crack cocaine – sparked anger last night.
Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr said: 'The public will be appalled at the prospect of inmates being handed these substances directly.
'Taxpayers shouldn't be funding prisoners' drug habits.
'This is symptomatic of the SNP's soft-touch justice agenda which panders to the needs of criminals.'
Annemarie Ward, chief executive of the charity Faces and Voices of Recovery, said: 'Prisons should be places of rehabilitation and safety, not state-sanctioned drug zones. This isn't compassion. It's abdication.'
According to the latest Scottish Prisoners Survey, 35 per cent said they used illegal drugs, up from 29 per cent in 2019.
Inmates have told third sector organisations the most common drugs are synthetic cannabinoids, benzodiazepines and opioids, some of which they put into vapes, mix into hot drinks or inject.
Meanwhile, prison officers are dealing with an epidemic of violence as figures show there have been more than 250 assaults on staff on average each year over the past decade.
A Mail investigation laid bare how crooks are increasingly using cutting-edge technology, including drones, to evade security and get drugs into prisons.
According to the prison service, an increase in 'nominals' – senior gangsters – sent to jail over the past four years has led to new technologies being used to get drugs behind bars.
Jail staff have seen drugs soaked into clothing and sent to prisoners, which the inmates then wash with water to release the product.
Scottish Drugs Forum CEO Kirsten Horsburgh told a recent Holyrood committee meeting that decriminalising drug use could be the answer to the SPS's plight.
She said 'a huge majority of people in prison will not necessarily pose a risk to the general public but are in prison because their drug use is criminalised'.
Ms Horsburgh told The Mail on Sunday last night that 'as long as drugs are being used, there is a need to reduce any related harms'. She added: 'For decades, in other countries sterile injecting equipment has been available in prison settings as they are available in communities across Scotland.'
The SPS said: 'We are determined to do everything we can, working with partners, to reduce the supply of substances, support people in their recovery journey, and create better environments for everyone to live and work.'
A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'The criminal justice committee is taking evidence for its inquiry into drug use in prison and is seeking views from experts with a range of views.'
