Prison officers are overcome by zombie drug
Spice fumes in cell put 3 guards in hospital
THREE prison guards had to be taken to hospital after breathing in second-hand smoke from an inmate using ‘zombie’ drug Spice.
The warders were overcome by fumes from the strong hallucinogenic after entering a cell in which a prisoner had been smoking.
It is the latest in a string of incidents involving Spice, which has been flooding into prisons across the country
HMP Addiewell – a top-security private jail in West Lothian run by Sodexo – was put on partial ‘lockdown’ after the episode.
Spice is synthetic cannabis – a mixture of smokable herbs and man-made chemicals – which can cause hallucinations and severe psychotic episodes.
It can make users aggressive and paranoid or leave them slumped and unable to move.
Trade union Community, which represents jail staff at the jail, has demanded action to ensure warders are not put in danger again.
The group’s Scottish secretary, Steve Farrell, said: ‘We have been warning prison management and the Scottish Government that “legal highs” pose a real danger to prison officers. Our members have just as much right to feel safe at work as anyone else.’
An Addiewell spokesman said: ‘Three staff were taken unwell while on duty on Saturday and taken to hospital by ambulance.
‘We work closely with the police and NHS to tackle drugs, which are a challenge across the whole prison estate.’
Spice is believed to have caused its first death in Scotland in May – a 46-year-old inmate at Shotts Prison, Lanarkshire.
Before he died, he reportedly admitted trying the drug for the first time.
Spice has been linked to deaths elsewhere in the UK and abroad, and was on a list of so-called legal highs banned last year.
According to the Scottish Public health Observatory, more than half of Addiewell’s inmates had drugs in their system during a one-month period last year.
Detective Inspector Ian Spence, of Police Scotland’s Crime Campus, said: ‘Small amounts of synthetic cannabinoids have been recovered in Scotland within the last months.
‘There are no borders, the internet is open and if there is a demand for this product then generally it creates a supply.’
Charity Turning Point Scotland, which supports people with addictions, has said more people using its services are taking Spice.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland David Strang said ‘highs’ like Spice which mimic the effects of illegal drugs – officially known as new psychoactive substances – are a ‘growing concern’.
A prisoner survey in 2014 suggested almost one in ten Scots inmates used such substances while in custody.