Prison forced to wash Spice-soaked clothes sent to addict inmates
PRISON chiefs have been forced to wash all clothes sent to inmates amid fears they have been soaked in ‘zombie’ drug Spice.
Jail chiefs say a liquid form of the synthetic cannabis is being sprayed on garments, letters and even children’s drawings in order to smuggle the substance behind bars.
Bosses at Perth Prison have all items of clothing scrubbed before they are handed to prisoners in a crackdown on the drug at the 700-capacity jail.
The extent of the Spice problem in the country’s jails is revealed in a report published yesterday by Wendy SinclairClass Gieben, Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland.
The document also outlines how HMP Perth staff are being affected by second-hand Spice smoke – and are under increasing ‘strain’ due to the growing number of inmates ‘under the influence of substances’.
Spice was a so-called ‘legal high’ before being upgraded to a B drug. It is one of a group of drugs officially known as New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) – and its use has been described as reaching ‘epidemic levels’ in prisons across the UK.
Users can end up like ‘zombies’, in a semi-comatose state incapable of walking or talking properly. Spice has also been known to cause breathing problems and even heart attacks.
Users can become violent, with some prison staff saying it gives inmates ‘super-human strength’.
Miss Sinclair-Gieben’s report warns Spice smuggling is an ‘ongoing issue’ at HMP Perth and notes the ‘recent challenges the prison has faced in relation to the increased prevalence of attempts to introduce psychoactive substances in all Scottish prisons’.
She adds: ‘The prison has taken steps to wash all clothing coming in to the prison to ensure this is not a route for illicit substances.’
A prison source said spraying liquid Spice on clothes is a ‘new trend’ and that soaking letters in the drug had been more common, with many jails now photocopying all mail sent in before passing it on.
The source added: ‘Prisoners are resorting to other tactics of getting Spice, including spraying it on clothes.’
Miss Sinclair-Gieben’s report notes there is ‘a huge effort to smuggle drugs into prison as their value is higher than in the community’
‘Causes violence and self-harm’
but ‘the growth of NPS’ stood out. The document states: ‘[NPS] not only affects the prisoner but staff may be affected as well. It’s a double-edged problem.
‘NPS can be airborne. The prisoners taking it... can be completely out of it. Staff have to go in and support and can also be affected.’
Miss Sinclair-Gieben warns Spice use is ‘the beginning of a growth area in Scotland’, adding: ‘It has badly affected English prisons. It hasn’t affected Scottish prisons in the same way but the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is fully aware of the potential.’
The findings come only a week after two men were jailed for trying to smuggle drugs into HMP Perth using a drone packed with £3,000 worth of pills and cannabis. Paul Reilly, 32, of Cumbernauld, Lanark- shire, was jailed for 33 months while Michael Martin, 35, of Kirkcaldy, Fife, was jailed for a year.
In January, seven Perth prisoners required emergency treatment after smoking Spice and collapsing.
The previous month, four officers at the jail were taken to hospital after being in a fume-filled cell.
Speaking earlier this year, Glyn Travis, of the Prison Officers’ Association, said: ‘Prisons are awash with drugs and Spice is the cannabis of the 21st century.
‘Spice has become a deadly drug which causes violence, self-harm and suicides – and our staff see it first-hand.’
SPS spokesman Tom Fox said: ‘We have been very fortunate not to have seen the huge growth in the use of these substances that we have seen across the UK.
‘We are trying to deal with what we have seen and part of that is getting across the message that these things are potentially lethal.’