AUS: Plan to Allow Prisoners to Shoot Up

[Jabberwocky]

PRISONERS would be given syringes to shoot-up illicit drugs such as ice or heroin under a radical plan to reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis in jails.

But the prison officers’ union, jail authorities, and the opposition slammed the Australian Medical Association (AMA) idea as “dangerous”, with the union saying jail is for rehabilitation not drug abuse.

AMA president Michael Gannon said blood borne viruses are spreading in jails because of smuggled drugs and inmates sharing needles.

“The AMA is not in favour of a permissive attitude towards drugs that are dangerous but we are very much in favour of harm-minimisation strategies,” Dr Gannon said.

“The fact is that drugs find their way into prisons and other settings; the fact is people do acquire serious infections like hepatitis C in the community and in prison, and we can’t afford to bury our head in the sand.”

With the release of its new position statement on blood borne viruses, to be released today, the AMA said “needle and syringe program trials have been shown to reduce the risk of needle-stick injures” to jail staff, boosting the number of inmates seeking treatment with “no adverse effect on illicit drug use or overall prison security”.

Hepatitis NSW estimates about a quarter of the state’s prisoners have hepatitis C, with 70 per cent of prisoners who inject drugs in custody sharing needles. Only about one per cent of the wider population has the virus.

Public Service Association general secretary Stewart Little rejected the proposal.

“If you’re in jail you’re there to be rehabilitated and get off drugs. And from our point of view the main problem we have is safety,” he said.

“It would make it a far more dangerous environment for our members to work in.”

Corrective Services NSW said the program had been ruled out because of potential dangers. “NSW was the first correctional jurisdiction in the world to report an intentional attack on a staff member with a blood-filled syringe.

“Correctional officer Geoffrey Pearce tragically died from an HIV-related illness in 1997 after an inmate stabbed him with a syringe that contained HIV-contaminated blood in 1990,” a spokesman said.

Opposition Health spokesman Walt Secord slammed the proposal, saying: “There are too many risks with a prison needle exchange. “While I support harm minimisation this sends a message that heroin and other injecting drugs are permissible in prison.”

Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...s/news-story/6c91ce467fa77251858593c95f854df0

 

[neversickanymore]

Considering drugs will always be available and used everywhere its far passed time we abandon the utterly failed idealistic pipe dream that "banning" drugs and imprisoning users and addicts will have any positive effect.

What message are we sending.. That we are total idiots incapable of changing a totally failed attempt.

 

[LandsUnknown]

This seems like a good policy in the sense that it would likely help prevent blood borne diseases being spread through people passing around needles with other people in jail. Although, it is important that people be given the opportunity to detox and are given encouragement to do so obviously. Of course, that is one's personal decision and attempting to force it simply does not work and they are finally realizing that in Australia. I definitely agree with the policy overall, as it likely would reduce the rate of blood borne infections. Of course, no one should end up in jail simply for doing drugs of any kind, as banning drugs is criminal in the eyes of morality itself.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

getting stabbed with an HIV filled syringe by a prisoner....u couldn't pay me enough to be a prison guard. Id rather be a prisoner

 

[poledriver]

NEEDLE AND SYRINGE PROGRAMS NEEDED IN PRISONS

The AMA has called for needle and syringe programs (NSPs) to be introduced in prisons and other custodial settings, to reduce the spread of Blood Borne Viruses (BBVs) including hepatitis B and C, and HIV.

AMA President, Dr Michael Gannon, said today that prevalence of BBVs is significantly higher in prisons, yet custodial facilities provide a unique opportunity to protect the health of inmates.

Launching the AMA Position Statement on Blood Borne Viruses 2017, Dr Gannon said that with new BBV treatments, including hepatitis C direct acting antivirals, available on the subsidised Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), now is the time to identify people with undiagnosed BBVs.

“BBVs are a major health problem in our prisons, which is no surprise given that many people are in custody for drug-related offences in the first place,” Dr Gannon said.

“BBVs may be transmitted through infected blood, exposure to contaminated drug products, unsterile injecting practices, sexual contact, failures in infection control in health care, mother to child transmission, and unsterile tattooing or body piercing practices.

“All the evidence shows that harm minimisation measures, such as access to condoms and lubricant, regulated needle and syringe programs, and access to disinfectants such as bleach, protects not just those in custody, but prison staff too.

“It also reduces the likelihood of someone being discharged from prison with an untreated BBV, and spreading it in the outside community.

“The AMA supports NSPs as a frontline approach to preventing BBVs. Prison-based NSP trials have been shown to reduce the risk of needle-stick injuries to staff, and increase the number of detainees accessing drug treatment, while showing no adverse effect on illicit drug use or overall prison security.”

The AMA Position Statement also calls for greater emphasis on prevention, reliable and affordable screening, immunisation, and treatment, with stronger referral pathways, and greater investment in specialist services.

It also warns against making transmission of a BBV a crime, arguing the BBVs are first and foremost a health issue, not a legal one.

“Criminal sanctions should be used only as a last resort for people who intentionally put others at risk of BBV infection,” Dr Gannon said.

“There is no evidence that laws that criminalise BBV transmission either prevent or deter transmission.

“Indeed, such laws can be a barrier to the prevention and management of BBVs by discouraging sex workers and injecting drug users from being tested and treated, or from disclosing their diagnosis.

“Doctors are at the front line of BBV diagnosis and treatment, and should therefore be well informed about legal issues, particularly their own legal obligations, to provide the best advice and support to individual patients.”

The AMA Position Statement also calls for specific resourcing and management of HLTV-1, a relatively unknown BBV that affects Aboriginal people in central Australia.

https://ama.com.au/media/needle-and-syringe-programs-needed-prisons#.WHRfYkP7HOs.twitter

 

[Mysterie]

if its like a needle exchange for prisoners i am all for it.

 

[rujex]

Handing out condoms might help even more to stop the spread of Hepatitis and HIV.......