NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #16/NN_1992_16.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/5383

Text File | 1992-07-27 | 5.3 KB | 99 lines

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From: Nigel Allen <[e-mail]>
Subject: Drugs in Prison
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Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 22:44:04 GMT
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Press release from U.S. Department of Justice
 Drug Enforcement in State and Federal Prisons
 To: National Desk
 Contact: Stu Smith of the Office of Justice Programs,
          U.S. Department of Justice, 202-307-0784 or 301-983-9354


   WASHINGTON, July 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Almost 90 percent of the
nation's 1,287 federal and state correctional institutions test
inmates for illegal drugs and more than 40 percent test staff
members, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.
   BJS, a Department of Justice agency in the Office of Justice
Programs, said that as of June 1990, all 80 federal institutions and
almost all of the 250 state community-based facilities reported
having a drug testing program for inmates.  Approximately 83 percent
of the 957 state prisons also reported having a testing program.
   The findings are from a 1990 census of the nation's correctional
facilities and make available for the first time detailed information
about illegal drugs in prisons.  Whereas about three-quarters of the
facilities reported suspicion-based testing, about six in 10 reported
testing random groups of inmates, and two in 10 reported testing
every inmate at least once during his or her period of confinement.
   "About 80 percent of the federal and state prisons that tested for
marijuana, the most commonly detected drug, found evidence of its
use," said BJS director Steven D. Dillingham.
   "Among the 764 prisons which conducted nearly 400,000 urine tests
for marijuana use, more than 22,000, or a little less than 6 percent
of the tests, were positive.  Among the tests for cocaine use, about
3 percent were positive," Dillingham noted.
   There was a variety of approaches to avert the flow of illegal
drugs into their facilities.  A majority of institutions frisked or
patted-down inmates when they entered the facility and required a
change of clothing, and almost half the prisons nationwide may
conduct required a body cavity search at entry.  Similar procedures
were often used on visitors and staff members -- almost nine in 10
prisons conducted a search of visitor belongings and almost half of
federal and state prisons reported frisking staff members.
   The study found that facilities using intrusive search techniques
generally reported a lower percentage of inmates who tested positive.
For example, among facilities which only verbally questioned and
patted-down entering inmates, 13.5 percent of the tests administered
for marijuana were found to be positive and 5.2 percent for cocaine
were positive.  Among facilities using a combination of clothing
exchange and a body cavity search of entering prisoners, 2.6 percent
of those tested for marijuana were positive and 1.2 percent for
cocaine were positive.  Other findings included:
   -- On June 29, 1990, state and federal correctional facilities had
drug treatment programs with an estimated capacity of 132,000 people.
At the time, there were approximately 100,200 participants enrolled.
   -- On the same date, about 76 percent of the available drug
treatment capacity in state a nd federal correctional institutions
was in use.
   -- Community-based correctional facilities relied primarily on
testing for drug enforcement.  Only a quarter of such facilities
required entering residents to change clothes.  These facilities --
which are often used for prerelease programs or study or work release
training -- permit residents to come and go unaccompanied.
   -- Testing procedures for personnel vary substantially for federal
and state prisons.  While more than half of federal prisons reported
that all staff members and new hires are tested for illegal drug use,
only 13 percent of state prisons reported testing such personnel.
   -- Among state prisons reporting staff testing, about one in three
said that a first positive drug test resulted in immediate dismissal
and about six in 10 said such a matter was normally referred to an
internal affairs unit for follow-up.
   -- About two in 10 state prisons and almost six in 10 federal
prisons that tested staff members operated a program to assist
personnel who tested positive.
   Single copies of the special report, "Drug Enforcement and
Treatment in Prisons, 1990" (NCJ-134724) as well as other BJS
publications and data may be obtained from the Bureau of Justice
Statistics Clearinghouse, Box 6000, Rockville, Md. 20850. The
telephone number is 1-800-732-3277.  For additional information and
statistics on drugs and crime issues contact BJS's Drugs & Crime Data
Center & Clearinghouse on 1-800-666-3332.
   -------
   Editors: Data from the tables and graphs used in the BJS report
can be made available to news organizations in spreadsheet files on
5," and 3+" diskettes by calling 202-307-0784.
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