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Home Office

Answer

Mr. Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mandatory drug tests on prisoners proved (a) positive and (b) negative in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and in what proportion of positive tests disciplinary action was taken. [88708] Mr. George Howarth: In 1998, 88,304 mandatory drug tests were undertaken, and some 20,152 of those tests were positive for drugs. This figure includes results from both random and targeted tests. During 1998, a total of 15,672 offences of "unauthorised use of a controlled drug" were punished under the Prison Rules. Not all positive tests lead to disciplinary action for a number of reasons including: If a prisoner were imprisoned for less than the retention period of the drug that tested positive, no charge could be laid because the misuse could have taken place whilst in the community. The maximum retention time for benzodiazepines and cannabis is 30 days. Similarly, if a prisoner tested positive twice within a short space of time, they might not be charged on the second occasion because both positive results could have arisen from the same incident of misuse. A prisoner might be released after being tested but before any charge could be laid. A few prisons operate a policy of cautioning a prisoner outside an adjudication for a first offence of cannabis misuse. There will always be a small number of cases where a procedural error, for example failure to charge within 48 hours of the discovery of an offence, means that the case cannot proceed to adjudication.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

334 c83-4W;334 c83W; 88708

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Discipline Drugs Prisoners Prisons Testing

Contains statistics

Yes