The Drug Policy Action Group launches new report on prison drug policy

There can be no doubting the magnitude, complexity and difficulty of the problem of drugs in Irish prisons. There is an abundance of research evidence on the extent of the problem. In 2000, a national survey of a representative sample of more than 1,000 prisoners found that 52% of all Irish prisoners had used heroin and over 40% had injected heroin. In 2005, a survey of the psychiatric status of Irish prisoners found that 59% of male sentenced prisoners had a drug dependency problem, and 45% an alcohol dependency problem. Only 26% of sentenced prisoners had neither a drug nor an alcohol dependency problem.

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Source: Drug Policy Action Group