These programs are in addition to the country’s only prison-based “overdose prevention service,” which began operating in 2019 at the medium-security Drumheller Institution for men in Alberta. It is essentially a controlled injection site offering sterile equipment and supervised consumption.
Since the site opened, there have been 55 participants, 1,591 visits and zero overdoses on the site, conference officials said. The correctional service says it also offers mental health counseling, access to naloxone to counteract the effects of opiate overdoses and preventative treatments such as pre-exposure prophylaxis – medicine taken to prevent HIV infection.
All these efforts have led to a reduction in infections, said Marie-Pierre Gendron, an epidemiologist with Correctional Service Canada. She said HIV infection among prisoners nationally has declined from 2.02 percent of the prison population in 2007 to 0.93 percent in 2020; and hepatitis C decreased from 21 percent in 2010 to 3.2 percent in 2021.
“I’m encouraged by the way they describe the program as something they’re proud of,” said Sandra Ka Hong Choo, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network.
But a major “red flag” that could lead to lower participation is the fact that security personnel are involved in the process, she said. This is not the case in prison needle exchange programs in other countries, some of which are completely anonymous or even offer syringes in automatic dispensing machines.
“This is really a critical gap in the program,” she said.
Inmates are subject to a security threat assessment and warden approval before they can access the programs, officials described the process. Nearly a quarter of applications to participate in the program are rejected, according to statistics presented at the conference.
Shawn Huish, a warden at Mission Institution in British Columbia, said it’s a challenge to change the mindset of corrections workers who are used to looking for drugs, confiscating them and trying to stop inmates from taking them — while making sure inmates , that those participating in the program will not affect their release.
There was a lot of “fake news” about wrestling, Huish said, including a billboard erected outside the prison that painted the program in a negative light.
“Our biggest focus was to talk, to educate, to break down the fear. Admitting a needle in prison can be scary for people,” he said. “You’re afraid you’re going to stick yourself with a needle. So we looked at the records. In two-and-a-half years, we’ve had one member of staff stabbed, and that was during a search, and it was a thumb stab.’
Leah Cook, regional public health manager for the Prairies, led the implementation of the supervised injection site at Drumheller and said it was “the only known service of its kind in a correctional setting on the world stage, which I am incredibly proud of. ”
Cook said a “safe zone” was set up so program participants could bring their own stash of drugs into the monitoring room without fear of being searched – and it was called the “yellow brick road” .
The Correctional Service of Canada did not immediately respond to questions sent over the weekend.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 2, 2022.
Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press
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