20 officers at one prison go home sick due to Spice fumes
Drugs are sprayed on letters which criminals steam to release vapour
CRIMINALS are smuggling so much ‘zombie drug’ Spice into jails that 20 officers at a single prison went home sick last week after inhaling the fumes.
The synthetic cannabis, which often leaves addicts unable to walk or speak, is rife across UK prisons and staff are increasingly becoming passive victims of the epidemic.
Spice can come in liquid form, and it is being sprayed on to paper and sent to inmates in the form of letters – which the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) says is ‘very hard to stop’.
Prisoners either steam the letter with a kettle to get high off the vapour or
‘Easier to get drugs than toothpaste’
shred it to smoke with tobacco, polluting the jail’s atmosphere.
Before last week’s sickness crisis at Holme House men’s prison in Stockton- on-Tees, Co Durham, there had been 41 occasions this year where guards at the jail had been made ill by exposure to Spice, the POA said.
Last Thursday, 12 staff had to be taken off duty with alarming symptoms, which include headaches, dizziness, hallucinations, racing heartbeat and anxiety.
Eight were off the day before, according to the POA – 16 of whom remain absent through sickness from inhaling drug fumes. Officers are also concerned about unknown longterm effects of the relatively new psychoactive substance, which was formerly a legal high.
A 5.6kg haul of Spice – the largest ever found in a British jail – was seized at the Category B Holme House.
Cleveland Police have launched an investigation into how containers of coffee, cereal and soap – found during two cell searches – got into the 1,200-capacity jail packed with the drug.
The POA said the haul – which is worth around £200,000 – was the result of organised crime and was being smuggled in on an industrial scale.
The union’s acting vice chairman Terry Fullerton said Spice was ‘an epidemic in prisons across the country’ and Holme House was at the ‘top end of the scale’. He said there was evidence it could be ‘absorbed through the skin’ and officers were being badly affected because so much was choking the jail’s landings.
Holme House POA branch chairman Andy Baxter added that some officers had been sent off-duty more than three times after being made unwell by Spice, which was gravely affecting staffing levels.
A Channel 4 documentary last year, The Secret Life of Prisons, showed how the drug was being sprayed on to children’s drawings, which were sent into jails and sold for £50. Drones are also increasingly used by gangs to drop drugs and other contraband into prison grounds.
The Government awarded Holme House £9million last December purely to crack down on Spice users.
Alex Cunningham, Labour MP for Stockton North, said he would press the Home Office to launch an inquiry. He said: ‘It is stunning that so much can get through the prison security system. The officers are clearly suffering. I’ve heard that it’s easier to get hold of drugs in prison than it is toothpaste. There is no doubt the smuggling of the drugs is organised. This needs to be cracked down upon.’
The partner of one prison officer, who was not named, told the Northern Echo how he was struck down twice in a week.
On the first occasion the officer drove himself home early to sleep it off.
She said: ‘His eyes were bloodshot red, protruding from his eye sockets. He broke down crying like a baby as he sobbed into my arms.’
A week later he was sent home again after being ‘Spiced’ and was short-tempered and aggressive for several days after.
Justice minister Philip Lee said the Government recognised ‘deficiencies’ in the system, but it had been unprepared for the impact of widespread drug use.
A Prison Service spokesman said: ‘We are determined to stem the flow of drugs into our prisons, and are taking unprecedented action to tackle these issues.’
These measures include drugtesting, sniffer dogs and tougher sentences for possession in jail. Police and prison officers are also being specially trained to tackle drone drop-offs.
‘Partner broke down crying’