Deadly drugs plague Alberta jails

Opioids linked to 95% of overdoses in provincial facilities through 2016

Alberta correctional facilities have recorded more than 120 overdoses in the past two years, and dozens more in federal prisons in the province, new statistics show.

Postmedia obtained the data after a string of overdoses at the Edmonton Remand Centre.

Since Nov. 29, at least three inmates at the remand centre have been found unresponsive in their cells after apparent overdoses, one of whom died.

Despite efforts to keep contraband out of correctional institutions — including use of ion scanners, body scanners and detector dogs — the statistics show deadly opioids such as fentanyl are still getting in.

Between January 2016 and Nov. 30 of this year, 122 suspected overdoses were reported in provincial correctional facilities, 95 per cent involving opioids, according to Alberta Health Services.

Three provincial inmates have died of overdoses in the past two years.

Another 46 overdoses were reported in federal correctional institutions in Alberta between 2015-16 and this fiscal year, Correctional Service Canada data shows.

Thirty of those — more than 65 per cent — were at Drumheller Institution, a minimum- to medium-security facility east of Calgary that has about 40 per cent of Alberta’s federal prison beds.

The others happened at Bowden Institution with nine overdoses, Edmonton Institution with six overdoses and Grande Cache Institution with one overdose.

Twelve people have died of overdoses in Canada’s federal prisons since 2015, but a Correctional Service Canada spokeswoman would not provide a regional breakdown of those deaths, citing privacy reasons.

Scott Conrad, chair of AUPE Local 003 and a correctional officer at the Calgary Remand Centre, said the provincial overdose numbers would likely double when including those in which a correctional officer administers naloxone and the patient is not hospitalized.

He said overdoses have “spiked” in the past 18 months. That’s a concern for staff at the jail, who have reportedly fallen ill after touching opioids. He knew of at least 12 cases where officers were examined in hospital “due to cross-contamination of opioids.”

“It’s not just the correctional officers, it’s the nurses, it’s the public works department that has to go into these cells ... and do repairs,” he said. “The plethora of people who come into contact with these inmates who overdose, it’s really disturbing.”

Inmates smuggle the majority of drugs into correctional facilities, he said.

Contract workers, correctional officers and lawyers have also been caught smuggling drugs and other contraband.

In an email, Correctional Service Canada said the agency uses regular searches, ion scanners and detector dogs to catch people smuggling drugs into its facilities.

This fall, in response to inmate overdoses, the provincial government-run Edmonton Remand Centre installed the province’s first body scanner, an X-ray machine similar to those at airports that can detect weapons and drugs on people entering the facility. That includes drugs hidden in body cavities.

Security director Ken Johnston told reporters at the time that there hasn’t been an increase in contraband being smuggled into the facility. “It’s the potency of what’s coming in that is raising the concerns.”

Correctional Service Canada facilities do not use body scanners, the agency said in a written statement.

Conrad said he “fully” supports body scanners. However, he said that the scanner at the remand is not fully functional because there still aren’t enough staff trained in its use. “As the union, we brought those concerns forward,” he said.

Despite upfront costs of around $580,000, he said body scanners would save money in the long run — for example, on wrongful death lawsuits brought by family members of inmates exposed to drugs in jail.

Both federal and provincial agencies said that in addition to targeting the drug supply, they are working to reduce demand through treatment programs.

AHS started a pilot project at the Calgary Correctional Centre to offer opioid dependency treatment to patients with substance abuse issues, a spokesperson said in a written statement. The program could be expanded to other centres after a six-month evaluation.

As of Nov. 27, Alberta had recorded 482 accidental drug overdose deaths in 2017 related to opioids — up 40 per cent from the same period last year.