Australia: High Time to Clean Up Prisoner Drug Use Says Harm-Reduction Group

Australia should allow controlled needle and syringe programs (NSPs) in prisons to prevent hepatitis C and HIV transmission among incarcerated needle-sharing injection drug users, a harm-reduction group says. Such an NSP would require prisoners to store a used syringe inside a protective container before swapping it for a clean one in a container, said the Association for Prevention and Harm Reduction Programs Australia (Anex).

Australian researchers have found that almost 40 percent of inmates report injection drug use (IDU) while imprisoned, and about 70 percent of them shared needles. Some prisoners reported a needle being reused by as many as 100 inmates, with needles being re-sharpened by grinding them on cell walls. Two-thirds of corrections officers reported finding contraband needles, which is a potential risk during cell and prisoner searches. About 35 percent of inmates are infected with hepatitis C virus, and 0.5 percent have HIV.

"It is irrefutable that prison authorities owe a duty of care to prisoners, to protect them from foreseeable harm while they are in custody," said John Ryan, executive director of Anex. Such programs "have been operating for up to 10 years in Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus."

"The introduction of prison-regulated and controlled NSPs in these countries has not resulted in instances of syringes being used as weapons," Ryan said. "In fact, international experience shows that prison-regulated and controlled NSPs actually can increase institutional safety."

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