Sunday People

Jail beats Spice drug epidemic

Photocopie­r winning war on ‘zombie’ danger Did you win?

- By Stian Alexander

TEMPERATUR­ES may be getting cooler but Britain saw a new hot air record yesterday.

This colourful display of 170 balloons was the most in the sky over the UK at the same time, beating the previous best of 130.

Crews from nine countries floated above Longleat safari park in Wiltshire.

The Sky Safari event, which ends tonight, features more than 220 inflatable­s, many of them beast-shaped, including Longleat’s own lion Simbaloo, three penguins, a wolf, donkey, an owl and even a koala. A PRISON has put a stop to its Spice drug epidemic – thanks to photocopie­rs.

The zombie drug was being sprayed on letters from loved ones.

Inmates would rip up the notes to be smoked in spliffs.

But under a pioneering scheme, prison staff have been photocopyi­ng every postal delivery to convicts and keeping the originals locked up. Since the move was introduced in January at HMP Preston in Lancs, it has not had a single ambulance call-out to deal with a Spice emergency.

The success has been revealed in a report by a jail watchdog.

The Independen­t Monitoring Board said: “It is not thought this is going to lead to the eradicatio­n of [psychoacti­ve substances], as prisoners are ever resourcefu­l, but it has demonstrab­ly reduced the availabili­ty within the prison.”

It wants jails to have the sort of drug testing gadgets used at nightclubs as the photocopyi­ng takes so long. Hospital dashes due to Spice are a daily occurrence at other jails.

 ??  ?? FUN: Families at safari park event
FUN: Families at safari park event
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 ??  ?? BATTLE: Preston prison
BATTLE: Preston prison

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