Drugs in prison: convicts develop habits while inside

Durham Prison is battling a widespread drugs problem, violence and overcrowding, according to inspectors.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons found that one in five prisoners tested positive for drugs and one in eight have developed a problem while inside.

Chief Inspector of Prisons, Nick Hardwick said the problem is one we should all be worried about.

The drugs are just one part of a whole myriad of problems, including bullying and overcrowding.

Inspectors found that there were 110 incidents of violence a month and that drugs had been the cause of intimidation.

But the report pointed out that the prison had 50% more inmates than it was supposed to. In some cases prisoners were sharing cells and unscreened toilets.

One former prisoner, David Honeywell said the problem had got worse over the years.

"The second time I went in they had introduced mandatory drugs testing, where they took random urine samples.

"I know a lot of soft drugs users turned to hard drugs because the substance didn't stay in the system as long as cannabis, so when they got a random drugs test they were less likely to test positive.

"It's a lot easier than it used to be. I know a lot of people use drugs to get through their sentence."

The prison service said that tackling drugs was one of its priorities and it had put in place "robust measures" to reduce drug supply.

The report did also highlight some improvements in the prison: it said staff had reasonable relationships with inmates and the prison had improved its learning facilities.

But overall, inspectors wanted the prison to stop the supply of drugs.

When asked how drugs were getting inside, Nick Hardwick said they can get in via prisoners, their friends and relatives or even via the staff themselves.