Now I've heard it all

[Grub]

Needle exchange programmes urged for prisons
By JENNY LING - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 28 August 2007

Needle exchange programmes in prisons and counsellors in police cells are being touted as solutions to drug use in jails.

And here was I thinking that the way to solve the problem was not to let prisoners have drugs and/or needles in prison in the first place.

This will gladden the hearts and give the do-gooders something to feel all warm and fuzzy about. Perhaps they could also knit nice little needle covers so that the needles don't get dirty when not in use? I think that would be a very useful and caring thing to do.

[Nasty]

Ya see i have to disagree with you darling ... have you ever tried stopping a man trying to get what he wants ... with that crap its damn near impossible!

[Grub]

Nah, I still think that the prison service could stop the transfer of contriband, it's just not very "nice" to do so - so they don't.

The world has gone bloody mad.

[karmakillernz]

You're never going to stop them using while in prison, I agree, but I don't think you should make it easy or 'acceptable' either.

Besides, they have nothing else to do while they're in there except smuggle in contriband - don't take away their fun.

[Ocean1]

Sick ain't it. Actually I don't have an issue with them doing drugs, I do have a serious problem with how they're paying for it. It demonstrates that they've still got a hugely negative impact on society, not what most of us would hope a prison term would allow.

[Albino]

It's like cellphones - lets put in all this technology that costs huge dollars into prisons to block cellphone reception.

If they can stop people taking things onto aeroplanes then why the #$#*%& can't the stop people taking drugs and phones into prisons.

[Her_C4]

It's like cellphones - lets put in all this technology that costs huge dollars into prisons to block cellphone reception.

If they can stop people taking things onto aeroplanes then why the #$#*%& can't the stop people taking drugs and phones into prisons.

How do you propose they stop all this contraband? you are of course aware that Prison staff have to abide by law/legislation?

There is currently NO legislation in NZ that authorises the use of body cavity searches (including the mouth) to search for said contraband... Do you have any imagination? Are you aware of the lengths that inmates (and visitors) will go to bring in said contraband??

[Albino]

Well change the law then.

Jeez that taxed the imagination.....

[Ocean1]

Are you aware of the lengths that inmates (and visitors) will go to bring in said contraband??

Pretty much the same lengths that put them there in the first place, we obviously didn't do a real good job of enforcement there either. Fer gawds sake, it ain't rocket science, ifn' ya going to have a law ya really need to be able to enforce it. Otherwise just don't bother wasting everyone's time.

[Her_C4]

Well change the law then.

Jeez that taxed the imagination.....

Exactly - now good luck getting some support and consensus from all the lobbyists for that

[Grub]

Do you have any imagination? Are you aware of the lengths that inmates (and visitors) will go to bring in said contraband??

Yeah of course we're aware of the lengths they go to. The answer is obvious and simple. Put perspex barriers up between inmates and visitors and make the fences too high to throw stuff over and put netting over the exercise yards to stop things dropping in.

If nobody likes that as an idea, that's tough. The crims and their friends want to break the embargoes, then they are the authors of their own inconvenience - nobody else is. If they abuse the trust that the system gives them to have physical contact with inmates then the preventative consequences are just.

[ManDownUnder]

Drugs are bad, and I understand going cold turkey's a bitch... but then so's life and they'll save so much money after they're no longer addicated... not to mention the fact they might not have to resort to crime to pay for their fucked up habits.

No drugs, isolation for anyone testing positive, have liufe support handy in case they need it while sweating shitting and cursing themselves silly over the next .. 2 days 5 days 4 weeks - whatever the hell.

If they're dumb enough to go back onto drugs while inside they get to do it all over again...

WHY is this so hard????
*ding* next

[imdying]

No drugs, isolation for anyone testing positive, have liufe support handy in case they need it while sweating shitting and cursing themselves silly over the next .. 2 days 5 days 4 weeks - whatever the hell.

If they're dumb enough to go back onto drugs while inside they get to do it all over again..

I would prefer if the test positive, their sentence restarts. If they're not clean, then we don't need them back.

[007XX]

Drugs are bad, and I understand going cold turkey's a bitch... but then so's life and they'll save so much money after they're no longer addicated... not to mention the fact they might not have to resort to crime to pay for their fucked up habits.

No drugs, isolation for anyone testing positive, have liufe support handy in case they need it while sweating shitting and cursing themselves silly over the next .. 2 days 5 days 4 weeks - whatever the hell.

If they're dumb enough to go back onto drugs while inside they get to do it all over again...

WHY is this so hard????
*ding* next

Why is it hard??? Because your arguments would (possibly) work on people with a shred of normal and reasonable mental capacity...We are talking of individuals that do not live on the same standard as ours, who no longer feel integrated or a part of society and therefor do not give a crap whether they conform or not...

Saving money is a foreign concept to them and would not be a valid weighing factor...

And yes, most of them are dumb enough to go back on drugs! how smart can you be in the first to end up in prison??? I mean c'mon, these people DO NOT think like you and I...

Also, do you seriously think that prison staff would want to be stuck as Detox nurses? they are neither trained for this or paid to do such a dirty job...

I have helped a friend going cold turkey while in Paris, and trust me, that is way bigger a task than it seems...You have to be monitoring that person 24/7.

Anyway, rant over...

[Her_C4]

Yeah of course we're aware of the lengths they go to. The answer is obvious and simple. Put perspex barriers up between inmates and visitors and make the fences too high to throw stuff over and put netting over the exercise yards to stop things dropping in.

If nobody likes that as an idea, that's tough. The crims and their friends want to break the embargoes, then they are the authors of their own inconvenience - nobody else is. If they abuse the trust that the system gives them to have physical contact with inmates then the punishment is just.

How naive .... where there is a will there is a way.

By all means lets make the prisons staff job a WHOLE lot easier. And make sure that all children are included - even babies, in terms of non-contact visits.

I strongly suspect that there would be no argument from any quarter within Prisons on any or all of these as a part measure... after all, they have been mooted for the last 20 years that I know of - (and I suspect a whole lot more).

Do you think these ideas are new?

The key I am trying to get at here, is that we can reinvent the wheel until the cows come home but unless we get some REALLY strong champions to change the legislation and address those lobbyists that care so profoundly for the inmates individual rights - regardless of their penchant for crime, drugs or other activities that push the boundaries of 'acceptable' society rules - then you are pushing shit uphill.