Pubdate: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 Source: Globe and Mail (Canada) Copyright: 2007, The Globe and Mail Company Contact: http://www.globeandmail.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/168 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/prison.htm (Incarceration) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?163 (HIV/AIDS) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?143 (Hepatitis) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange) WHAT THOSE NEEDLES DO There are few votes to be had in looking out for the interests of prison inmates. But in light of new research, it has never been clearer that politicians are not just endangering criminals with their refusal to do so but also costing the rest of us. Official policy is to keep illegal drugs out of jails. This is an admirable goal, but it does not appear to be working. Whether through employees or visitors, narcotics have a way of making it into prisons. And when inmates use them, they do so with an even higher risk than drug users on the outside. According to a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, a 2.1-per-cent rate of HIV infection among Ontario adult inmates surveyed in 2003-04 was 11 times higher than that of the general population. Ontario prisoners' rate of infection with hepatitis C was 17.6 per cent, 22 times higher than on the outside. The results were even more alarming in Quebec, where the HIV rate was 19 times higher than in the general population and the rate of hepatitis C 23 times higher. In the Quebec portion of the study, more than 90 per cent of those infected with HIV or hepatitis C reported a past history of injection use. Concluding that "injection drug use was by far the most important risk factor for both HIV and HCV infections," its authors recommended "harm-reduction measures" alongside prevention, disease testing and education. Peter Ford, a doctor and researcher who contributed to the Ontario study, made the outright case for needle exchanges. "It's not rocket science to figure out that if you clean up the way somebody's doing something ... then you're going to save people transmitting infection, particularly hepatitis," he told The Globe and Mail. "It's even less rocket science to figure out that if you actually issue clean syringes, as opposed to the one the whole range is sharing, you're going to get a lot less transmission of disease." But even given the new research, government officials continue to reject such a program. Some suggest that funds are better spent elsewhere; others say the needles pose a threat because they can be used by inmates as weapons. Both of these excuses are nonsense. While it is true that needles can be used to assault guards and other prisoners, the reality is that they are in jails regardless; the only question is whether they are clean or dirty. As for the cost, it is far more expensive to pay for disease treatment than it is to administer a simple needle-exchange program - and that doesn't even take into account the social costs. Those who find it hard to muster sympathy for drug-addicted criminals who infect each other would do well to consider that most of them are not in jail forever, and that when they get out many will spread their infections further. Sadly, the logic is consistently lost on governments looking to score political points. Last December, the federal government cancelled a pilot program that offered tattoos to inmates to discourage them from getting them from other prisoners, often with dirty needles. Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day claimed at the time that internal research had shown the tattoos were "not an efficient use of taxpayer dollars." But the following month, Mr. Day was contradicted by a leaked draft copy of a Correctional Service Canada evaluation stating that the program had "demonstrated potential to reduce harm, reduce exposure to health risk, and enhance the health and safety of staff members, inmates and the general public." "Our priority is to have an effective federal corrections system that protects Canadians," Mr. Day said when he cancelled the tattoo program. The government should understand that limiting the spread of deadly disease, be it through drug use or back-room tattooing, precisely fits that aim. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom