Over the past decade the prison population has practically doubled from about 200 inmates to just under 400 and it is a well-known fact that a significant proportion end up behind bars due to drug-related offences, according to the chairman of the Prison Board of Visitors, Mario Felice.
"Up to some time ago the prison authorities would not acknowledge that drugs were available in prison. It was difficult to discuss issues relating to drug consumption in prison because the point of departure was a strong denial of this phenomenon. Thankfully, nowadays anybody adopting such an unrealistic stand would find it very difficult to sustain it," he said.
Today, the presence of drugs in prison is a well-known and documented fact. In October, Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said in Parliament that 37 prisoners were found taking drugs so far this year.
While acknowledging that drugs made their way into jail - a fact that was also noted in the Drug Situation National Report of 2006 - Corradino Correctional Facility (CCF) director Sandro Gatt said: "The day we say we won the war against drugs is the day we lose it as that would mean burying our heads in the sand... Every effort is made to ensure drugs do not enter prison".
Visitors were searched, as was every item that entered CCF. The prisoners themselves were monitored through randon screening and anyone who refusesd to take a urine test was assumed to test positive for drugs, which resulted in loss of remission.
And yet drugs still make their way into jail. The drug report showed that, in 2005, 40 cases of drug seizures in prison were prosecuted. Of these 30 involved inmates, nine were visitors and one was a guard.
What was being done to ensure that the prison staff was not smuggling drugs to inmates?
Mr Gatt said staff members were searched by senior members.
Asked if there was a filtering process when prison staff was employed, he explained that there were 238 prison guards. On employment, their criminal records were checked but that does not necessarily say much, he said. "It's easy to be bribed in jail," he said, adding that the prices of drugs are very high compared to those outside the prison walls.
Falling into limbo
Mario Felice explained that a comprehensive prison policy had to bear in mind that a considerable percentage of prison inmates consumed drugs regularly and, among them, several also suffered from drug addiction.
"It is particularly sad to learn that there are a number of inmates whose addiction starts in prison. Admittedly, by and large, the prison provides a decent medical service and offers accessible psychiatric care. However, if an inmate with a drug addiction does not qualify for immediate drug rehabilitation at one of the three residential agencies in the community (Sedqa, Caritas and SATU), he or she would end up in limbo," he said.
This would usually happen whenever a sentenced inmate has not yet spent at least six months in prison, has reached the last six months of the prison term or has not yet approached the last two years before the expected date of release.
"Admittedly, there are objective reasons which justify these parameters. However, in such circumstances, an inmate would feel stuck and both pressures and temptations to take drugs would be great. Besides, prisoners (who would have been denied bail) awaiting a court judgment do not qualify for prison leave and so are unable to join a drug rehabilitation programme despite their drug addiction. Such prisoners would only manage to embark on a residential drug rehabilitation programme if the courts granted them bail. All these categories of prison inmates would find appropriate medical help within prison to go through drug detoxification but support practically stops there," Dr Felice said.
What about the non-addicts?
The focus of the drug problem in prison had a counter effect as there is little, if any, attention to the rehabilitation of inmates whose behavioural problems are not related to drugs, Dr Felice explained. "Unfortunately, the prison benefits from the services of only one forensic psychologist and there are no clinical or counselling psychologists to help inmates come to terms with their personal issues.
"A comprehensive prison drug policy within a broader correctional perspective should not focus only on security, discipline, order and control. These elements play an important role and cannot be dismissed nor neglected. Yet, equal emphasis should be placed on a range of other measures, including care, support, counselling and health-care education," he said.
A pro-active prison drug policy would encourage inmates to adopt a drug-free lifestyle, both within prison and when released in the community.
As part of this general strategy, the reality of things must be faced through the development of zones or units within the prison that would be drug-free, both in terms of the profile of inmates accommodated within and also in terms of the general environment within such units.
Inmates would choose to move to these drug-free zones and they would volunteer to submit themselves to additional rigour in terms of drug-testing. Yet, they would know that this would be compensated through a regime that offers an appropriate range of purposeful activities and comparatively wider privileges, he explained.
"Persons seeking these units need not have a drug history; the common factor is a determination to live in an environment that is more serene and, ultimately, safer... A drug-free zone could act as a pilot project to show that inspirational direction makes sense and can work."
Mr Gatt explained that the prison authorities have decided to set up areas in prison where new, low-profile inmates who test negative for drugs will be hosted.
These areas are not to be confused with drug-free zones being implemented in various prisons in EU countries, as described by Dr Felice.
When asked if there were plans to set up drug-free zones, Mr Gatt said that could happen in the future.
So how does the prison rehabilitation system work?
Mary Anne Agius, who chairs the Prisoners Substance Abuse Assessment Board, explained the general principles that were followed before a recommendation was made to allow a prison inmate to follow a residential substance abuse rehabilitation programme.
The inmate must be a sentenced prisoner and must have spent at least six months in jail before embarking on the rehabilitation programme. Further, the inmate would start the programme during the final stage of the prison sentence.
Given that a programme would not last for less than six months and no more than two years, the inmate's expected date of release should fall within such timeframe.
The rehabilitation programme coincides with the last phase of the prison sentence because an essential part of the programme focuses on the social re-entry stage, Ms Agius said.
"An inmate who wants to join a rehabilitation programme would submit an application. Tests would then be carried out to assess his/her addiction and motivation. The board then evaluates the findings and examines whether the individual falls within the established formal parameters. In principle, the board expects that inmates show their motivation by being drug free for some time before starting the rehabilitation programme. In exceptional cases, when a person has an addiction problem and displays adequate motivation, the board might decide to depart from other parameters indicating valid reasons," she said.
On average, the board meets once a month and reviews a range of new applications (about five to seven a month), re-applications (one or two a month) and reviews (four to five monthly). It is essentially a multi-disciplinary team and includes representatives from three residential rehabilitation centres (Sedqa, Caritas and SATU), the prison director, a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a member of the Prison Board of Visitors, and the assistant prison manager in charge of the prison youth section.
Agreeing with Dr Felice, Ms Agius said the prison still needs a drug-free assessment unit where inmates could experience a structured regime and work on motivational issues.
"Key players in rehabilitation acknowledge that this is essential and one hopes that the prison authorities will make the setting up of this unit a matter of priority," she said.
ccalleja@timesofmalta.com