The success of Canada’s first drug overdose prevention site behind bars at Alberta’s Drumheller Institution has sparked an expansion of the program to at least two additional federal prisons, which are anticipated to begin the service by the end of the year.
While Mr. Bloomfield welcomes the expansion of OPS to other prisons, he said it does little to curb concerns by officers running “inferior” needle exchange programs and should be rolled out faster to other institutions in the Prairies. An evaluation of the OPS was based on confidential interviews with staff and inmates three months after it was implemented. Summarized in the slides, the study showed health care workers and correctional officers who, at first, expressed largely negative views of the program and addictions changed their perspectives. Inmates indicated the site made them feel safer and better supported.
In an interview with The Globe, Dr. Leonard said evaluation interviews related to the PNEP have resumed and a final report is in the works. She expects to further evaluate OPS in federal institutions when the government moves forward with additional sites. She requested Corrections Canada provide her interim reports to The Globe but they were not received.
Site hours remain unchanged, Mr. Lawlor said, to align with staffing resources and operational requirements such as inmate counts and meals, but could expand as additional funding becomes available. A total of 49 patients were approved to use the Drumheller service. “I want it in my back pocket. If I need it, it’s there for me,” one inmate said.
So we are setting up sites for incarcerated criminals to use drugs because we are worried that shooting poison into their veins will harm them? Talk about a waste of $.