Prison rights: mandatory drugs tests and performance indicators for prisons

Area of Science:

• Criminology
• Public Health
• Forensic Science

Background:

• Mandatory drug testing (MDT) is implemented in prisons across England and Wales.
• The study examines data from a 1995 pilot program involving eight prisons.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness and unintended consequences of mandatory drug testing policies in correctional facilities.
• To assess the impact of MDT on drug use patterns and prison safety.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of drug testing results (opiates, benzodiazepines) from two phases of random testing.
• Examination of assault statistics within prisons during the study period.
• Critique of performance indicators used for drug misuse assessment in prisons.

Main Results:

• A rise in positive tests for opiates or benzodiazepines from 4.1% to 7.4% between testing phases.
• A 20% increase in provisional assault figures in 1995 compared to 1993-4.
• Identified limitations in performance indicators due to lack of covariate information, affecting reliability and timeliness.

Conclusions:

• Interpretation of MDT data is challenging.
• Concerns exist that MDT may lead inmates to substitute less harmful drugs with more dangerous injectable Class A drugs.
• Current drug misuse performance indicators are unreliable for individual prison assessments.