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Rachel Duncan Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1102 October 31, 2013

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Illegal drugs is the key in prisons: How they get in and the effects.

Have you ever thought about the number of people who are put away in jails or prisons in order to make our world a safer place? Do you realize that over 75% of these people are doing illegal drugs while locked up? Have you ever thought how these criminals obtain access to the illegal substance while incarcerated? These questions run through my head frequently; perhaps because Im a criminal justice major. But generally, you cannot escape from the magnitude of news stories or the number of crimes committed on a daily basis even in the prison system. Logically, you would assume within the prison system, steps are taken to prevent further criminal acts. Unfortunately, the reality is frightening. Its affecting the safety of prisoners and prison guards. Its scary to think that prisoners have access to get what they want from inside prison bars. On a routine basis, prisoners have easy access to illegal drugs and are actively using within the prison system. If one of the goals of the prison system is to rehabilitate, you may ask how this can happen. How drugs are smuggled in People such as you and I have a theory on how we think certain drugs are obtained in prison based on their exposure and perceptions of this issue. Many are right, but there are some ways that will surprise you because criminals are very creative and determined to feed their

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addiction. Inmates are obtaining illegal drugs through family members, random people, and prison guards. Yes, even prison guards. However, the process usually starts with a visit from friends or family. Shocking and creative ways the drugs are smuggled into the prisons include drugs inside soda cans, baby diapers, and even in a persons lip when they exchange a kiss(Joint together staff, Report: drug smuggling). The New York Times reports drugs are also coming in by pills being crushed and spread into a paste on a stamp or spreading in a childs art work (McFadden). The prison guards are not as innocent as people may think they are. It seems even prison guards are looking for ways to access extra cash. The inmates hire prison guards to access whatever drugs the inmate desires and bring it into the prison for cash. Some of these guards are never caught; but this was not the case for Erik Messner, 24 of Springfield, Pennsylvania. This young man was caught red-handed. Messner was allowing inmates to give him the contact information of their friends or family members, and then would arrange a meeting, says Michael Price, from Daily local news, in PA. Messner was even caught keeping the cash and a portion of the drugs for himself. Messners salary as a prison guard was thirty-two thousand a year (Price). He took a risk of losing his steady income for extra cash. Why would he take this risk? This shows how some people will do anything just for money. Additionally, it is an example that our prison system is corrupt and unsafe when you have employees actively participating in illegal activity. Another unique way prisoners are obtaining drugs is during their structured work assignments. For example, designated inmates are assigned road cleanups based on their good behavior. These inmates have the opportunity to travel outside of the prison walls to pick-up trash along highways. In many cases, this is yet another way for the inmates to get access to the

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illegal drugs they crave. There have been reported incidents in which the inmates family or friend drives by and throws a soccer ball, tennis ball, or even a clump of dirt out the window (Joint together staff, drug use). These have drugs inside them. Another creative example is the use of paintball guns splattering the prison walls with drugs for the inmates to access. Needless to say, the creativity and approaches are endless. So what actions are being taken to address this challenge? Technology With the advances in technology, you would assume it would be easy to detect and keep drugs out of jails and prisons. Indeed, over the years improvements have been made replacing the drug dog sniffers and the human eye with technology. Improvements such as scanning and detection devices have been installed and are helping. Mr. Power, Criminal Justice Director, at University of Columbia, shared in many northern areas they have placed new security cameras that are bullet resistant and will not break even with a sledgehammer(South Source) These cameras can monitor and record drug passing activity and will also prove helpful when people attempt to break out of prison or start fighting. Some prisons have implemented the use of the millimeter wave imaging system to scan visitors upon entry. This system is similar to the imaging system at the airports where it is an x-ray type of your body. When you step into this machine it scans from head to toe and is able to see if you have anything from a penny in your pocket to a clip in your hair. This system not only helps to identify drugs but also weapons. The disadvantage of the machine is it cannot detect drugs in body cavities. These machines have started to deter behavior. People who knew about the prisons having this system are too scared to even try to smuggle drugs in, says Thomas Dohman, Intelligence Captain at Graterford State Correctional Institution,. The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is currently funding to get a

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system that can easily track if someone has drugs in their body cavities. It is being developed in Quantum Magnetics.

How an inmate really thinks Terry Thornton, spokeswoman of Corrections and Rehabilitation, says the prison wall is not a boundary anymore,(Bulman). Reading this quotes makes me double think what the real meaning of it. The inmates are not worried about getting the drugs they want. A prisoner Brian Plump, said himself, that he sees illegal drugs every day. He also stated that if he wanted to get some sort of drug he could get it in an hour. In my mind, this is absurd and wrong that a prisoner who is imprisoned for criminal activity can so quickly and confidently obtains drugs behind bars. The inmates are not even worried about being behind bars because they can still obtain access and do what they want to do. How is this rehabilitation? It appears we live in a world where the criminals are in charge of prisons, not the employees who are hired to do so. Their access to drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and prescription pills are limitless. Most inmates, approximately 69 percent are addicted to drugs before even entering prisons, according to studies done by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. When they arrive their addiction doesnt stop, it continues because the access is not blocked. The drug use and maneuvering to obtain drugs is one of the culprits of prison gang fights. Most gangs are built around drug use. Prison gang members have control of the guards and control of the drug flow who gets the drugs, when and how much. According to Mike Ruff, a Corrections Department Special Agent, something that appears to be a riot between different gangs is not necessarily because theyre rivals; its because of a drug deal gone bad. These gangs are selling drugs ten times the price on street. How these criminals pay for it? This may come to a surprise

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or may not. Many of these inmates work in jail if they are eligible to, where they use the money they earn on drugs. Those who do not work are not get money from friends or family. They find ways to keep their addiction going. Ruff goes to say the gangs are the main source of drugs for these inmates. The fights all begin if they dont get the drugs they want at the time they need. The top drug for these gangs in prison is marijuana according to the study done in 2012 by the Columbus Dispatch (Drug inside prison walls). Many inmates dont have a specific drug they use; they will take anything they can get. Will drugs ever stop? Based on the percentage of drug related crimes, it is not surprising that drugs have taken over outside and inside jails and prisons. Patrick Arvonio, the former warden of East Jersey State Prison says, "Nobody can convince me that there's a county jail, a prison or any other place where people are locked up that there aren't drugs. Over the years, drug use has tripled in the amount of inmates that enter prison or jails. Prisons have still not found a way to keep out every type of drug attempted to be smuggled in. They may never find one. The only thing they can keep doing is trying to get more and more new technology, learn the new ways inmates are trying to bring in drugs, and making sure the staff they hire is trustworthy. A troubling trend due to government budget cuts is the government is going to reduce the amount of times the cells are checked daily because of cost, say Mark Freeman, POA Deputy General Secretary. If we dont have enough money to check the jail cells, how are we ever going to get enough money for the new technology to be placed into prisons? Help stop the drug use. Trying to come up with ways to help stop the over use of illegal drugs in prison doesnt come easy. There are many sources that cause this problem. According to Senator Mark Leno, of

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San Francisco, We currently have over 4,100 state prison inmates who are serving time for simple possession. These inmates that are serving time for possession are truly the one that are making the drugs in prison so popular. They come in with an addiction and just continue it. Their focus is to make connections and find ways to smuggle drugs inside prison. Instead of states sending these people to do time in prison, they should be sending them to substance abuse treatment centers. This would also have an additional benefit to reduce prison overcrowding which is another challenge. Leno says, Clearly this is a significant population, and how we deal with them could impact our overcrowding. In my opinion, all those inmates could be placed somewhere else and we would have less drug trafficking into prisons. This would also cut down the amount of our tax money that goes to these prisons. In California the cost for state taxpayers is close to 10 billion a year. Thats an extreme amount of money we are putting towards people who are not fixing their bad habits. Another way the government can help this problem is to have some sort of rehabilitation in prison for the inmates. In the Maine state prison, they do not offer opiate replacement treatment for those that need it in prison. However, they do offer drug counselors that are either in a group setting or one-on-one based. Judy Garvey, the Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition said, prisoners need more education, substance abuse programs and job training to help stop this drug issue. The longest running drug abuse program was created by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and implemented into many prisons over the past 20 years. They have a variety of strategies including having staff members at different locations incorporate their own literature, research and effective evidence-based practices (Betts). One other way jails and prisons help is by providing pharmacological maintenance programs. These programs include the long-term administration of a medication that either

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replaces the illicit drug or blocks its actions. This can give the inmates another path to choose if they dont feel comfortable with counseling or talking in a group. According to Dr. Howard Samuels, from outreach center he found information from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations (SAMHSA's) Uniform Facility Data Set (UFDS), drug and alcohol counseling was available in about 40% of Federal, State, and local adult and juvenile correctional facilities. All comes together At the end of the day, bringing drugs in a prison to having programs available for the inmates is all one big circle. They all affect one another in some way. Inmates that are already addicted to drugs are going to keep it going if the recovery programs are not helping. The staff and other inmates are affected by the illegal drug use due to the various emotional reactions experienced by the inmates such as anxiety, irritability, insomnia, depression and social isolation. The guards are looking for extra easy cash, in which they get these illegal drugs for the inmates outside of prison and bring it in. There really is no way to stop it all together in my opinion. People will be people and you cant control what they do but you can try to control how they think. In order to control how they think, you must identify key ways to relate to that person and influence them to explore a different way of seeing things. Opening their eyes to a different way, and seeing the positive outcome that is possible can sometimes be just the right element to push people change their ways. These prisons are hiring people they believe are trustworthy, and yet some of these workers are not trustworthy after all. The prisons think they are on point keeping these drugs out, but little do they know someone is coming up with a new way to bring it in. Can we ever be ahead of the game or will we always be behind? As of right now the facts and information say we are trying to be ahead, coming out with new technology, and finding ways to

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get the attention of these inmates in counseling. Smuggling drugs inside prison walls will never fully stop, the only thing we can do now is just hope it slows down with all the new improvements that are taking place and that are coming.

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Work Cited Betts, Stephen.Drug use remains prevalent inside Maine State Prison. Midcoast. 2013. Web.! Bickers, Ian, Luke Serjeant, and Brain Plumb. "Drugs in Prison." Insidetime. Sep 2009. BBC Panorama broadcast, Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes. Sep 2009. Print. Brooke.D.,C. Taylor, J Gunn & A.Maden (2000) Substance misuse as a marker if vulnerability among male prisoners on remand, British Journal of Psychiatry 1777:24951 Bulman, Philip. National Institute of Justice. The Research, Development and Evaluation Agency of the U.S Department of Justice. Using Technology to make prisons and jails safer. 2009. Web. "Drugs inside prison walls." Washington Times [Washington] 27 January 2010, n. page. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Join Together staff . "Suboxone smuggled into prison in New and Innovative ways." Partnership at drugfree.org. (2011): n. page. Web. 16 Sept. 2013. Join Together staff . "Drug use amount ohio inmates reaches highest rate in more than a decade." Partnership at drugfree.org. (2013): n. page. Web. 16 Sept. 2013. Join Together staff . " Report:Drug smuggling rampant in U.S Prisons." Partnership at drugfree.org. (2003): n. page. Web. 16 Oct. 2013. Price, Michael. "Prison guard accused of smuggling drugs." Daily Local News [Chester County, PA] 26 July 2013, n. page. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. McFadden Robert. "Drug Cases Top Others in Prisons." New York Times. (1988). Print South Source. Prison Security Goes High-tech. South University. (2012). Web.