Page 5107 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 27 October 2010
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Two years after the introduction of the regime in the UK, studies show that while there was a decrease in positive cannabis tests there was no increase in positive opiate tests. Similarly, studies have shown that there has been a decrease in both cannabis and opiate positive drug testing results in Canada.
Opposition to this policy argues that it causes corrections authorities to focus unduly on cannabis rather than focusing on harder drugs like opiates and heroin. This argument arises because mandatory random drug testing brings up significantly more tests positive for cannabis than for any other drug.
We need to stamp out illegal drug use in our jails, full stop. The 2009 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report on the health of prisoners found that most prisoners have used illicit drugs at some time in their life, with two-thirds regularly using drugs at the time of incarceration. In this same report it was shown that over 50 per cent of this drug use was cannabis. A focus on cannabis use, given its dangerous consequences, is not unwarranted.
In the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Prison Service has reported that dependency on illegal drugs is the single most serious risk for repeat offending. The New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has found that there is a strong link between frequent cannabis use and participation in juvenile crime. Surveys conducted by the bureau suggest that this is because juveniles resort to income-generating crime to fund cannabis use. The likelihood of participating in an assault is twice as high for juveniles who use cannabis frequently as in non-users. The likelihood of participation in malicious damage was three times as high as in non-users and the likelihood of participation in property offences was five times as high.
A study into cannabis use by detainees who were imprisoned for burglary offences found that, of those who committed burglary to obtain income for drugs, 84 per cent stated that the drug used was cannabis. Urinalysis conducted in Canada reflects this premise. Arrestees who had had a prior arrest or who were incarcerated in the prior 12 months were more likely to test positive for drug use. Additionally, cannabis is seen as a gateway drug. Heavy use of cannabis increases the likelihood of heroin use as users seek to find an ever-increasing high.
Cannabis use not only affects the wider community but has a detrimental effect on the short and long-term health of an individual. The Australian Medical Association states that cannabis use exacerbates pre-existing psychotic symptoms, does substantive damage to lungs, causes a decrease in motivation and concentration, causes difficulty in memory and the ability to learn new tasks, and has an effect on the reproductive capabilities of males and females. And users can become psychologically dependent.
Mandatory random drug testing puts equal emphasis on rehabilitation and punishment. There is no logic in trying to stamp out the illicit use of drugs in prisons if, upon release, detainees do not have the tools to actively abstain from drug use. Random mandatory drug testing has been proven to reduce the incidence of drug use in jail. It can be assumed that, as fewer drugs are taken into prisons, the amount of drugs present in the prison is reduced.
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