Tories call for compulsory drug-testing for Scottish prisoners

Published on Friday 18 December 2009 22:09

NINE out of ten people want to see prisoners tested for drugs while they are in jail, the Conservatives said yesterday.

An opinion poll for the Tories, carried out by YouGov, found 91 per cent of people questioned agreed inmates should undergo mandatory drug-testing.

The Tory party has repeatedly called for action to tackle the drugs problem inside Scotland's jails, including mandatory drug tests. Recent figures showed that drugs were found in prisons 1,705 times between 1 January and 23 November.

The party's community safety spokesman, John Lamont, said: "Something clearly has to be done. All prisoners should be subjected to a drugs test upon their arrival in jail. This testing must be comprehensive, robust and consistent.

"We should be helping prisoners get off drugs, rather than providing an environment for drugs to flourish. We must work harder to help addicts recover and send them on the path to abstinence."

He repeated Conservative demands for all prisons to have drug-free wings, where offenders who want to get clean can get help. And he said "robust measures" should be taken against anyone supplying drugs to prisoners.

"The benefits to society will be great if we find the political will to take this task on," said Mr Lamont. "Lower reoffending, less crime and a safer prison environment. It will be good for addicts, good for their families and good for society as a whole, because so much crime in Scotland is fuelled by drugs."

However, a Scottish Prison Service spokesman said: "Why have mandatory drugs tests when we already know that over 75 per cent of prisoners arriving in jail test positive for drugs?

"There is no incentive to conceal it and every incentive to reveal it.

"Mandatory drug-testing and drug-free areas have been tried. The experience of SPS staff suggests the most effective efforts are those focused on those who want to be helped."