Monday, November 18, 2002

Methadone addicts formed within: 'NSW Prisons'

The New South Wales Opposition has accused the State Government of turning jailed heroin users into Methadone addicts.

"But it is a lot worse than that" a spokesperson from Justice Action, Mr Rehabilitation said, "if prisoners just get bored they can get Methadone."

"The prison system doesn't mind because it slows prisoners' down and makes it easy to control them. Just like with the psych drugs, another form of control. Never mind about what happens when they get out." he said.


[You got to remember that at all material times prison is hell, so why wouldn't a prisoner seek to escape? Remissions can be attained in a number of ways, one is by pardon, another is by sleep, another is by drugs, so the harder prison is the more people want to escape. Fact!]

Shadow Corrective Services Minister Michael Richardson says the proportion of methadone addicts in the State's prison system is higher than anywhere else in the world, with one in seven prisoners on the drug.

Head of Corrections Health Service Richard Mathews has defended the treatment, saying prisoners' doses are maintained for health reasons. [?]

But Mr Richardson says the figures show more inmates are coming out of jail dependent on methadone. "Jail offers an opportunity to shake addiction instead of which Government is using to feed addiction," he said.

"How on earth Dr Mathews can say that when he's got a substantial number of people who are getting methadone for the first time in incarceration ...I don't know ... plainly there is an opportunity in jail to get these people off methadone... the Government has rejected."

General purpose Standing Committee No 3 Examination of expenditure for the portfolio areas Correctional Services, examined Methadone.

Richard Amery: "The issue about inmates in prison, those who are serving community, you will not get the Discovery Award to say that drugs are a major component of crime and the reason why people are in prison.

We have got a large population of that part of the community which are committing crimes, a big percentage of those are drug related crimes with numerous reports to identify with that. Its quite obvious that when these people are coming into our prison system, they are bringing with them, drug problems that they have lived with and have probably committed crimes to feed, whilst they have been in the general community."

The Hon Charlie Lynn: "You sustain their drug habit, or else some of them are assessed while they are in there, you put them on drugs, and then you put them back out with the habit."

By Gregory Kable 18 Nov 2002

Related:

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