Call for further prison staff training on 'legal highs'

More training for prison staff on how to respond to prisoners who have taken so-called legal highs is needed, Scotland’s inspector of prisons has said.  
 
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for Scotland (HMIPS) David Strang has warned that increasing use of new psychoactive substances (NPS) is leading to the potential for increased levels of debt, bullying and violence in Scotland’s jails over and above the health risks.
 
Strang told Holyrood that tackling the problem of NPS required a “two-pronged approach” that combines enforcement with education, intimating that imminent moves to outlaw psychoactive substances could help in terms of the challenge facing prison authorities.

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The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) acknowledged the trend remains a “real challenge” and said it has been looking at staff training around the effects such substances can have.  
 
Current SPS drug testing equipment is unable to identify NPS, though all drugs recovered in prisons are reported to Police Scotland, who may carry out testing to identify substances seized.
 
While the prevalence of NPS use within the Scottish prison population remains unclear, a prisoner survey published last summer suggested a quarter had used them before going into prison and almost one in ten used such substances while held in custody.
 
“So-called legal highs – or new psychoactive substances – are a growing concern and both from operational prison officers and healthcare staff saying to me that they are seeing increasing numbers,” said Strang.
 
“I think it’s the unpredictable behaviour. It's often known how people behave when they’ve drank alcohol or taken cannabis or heroin, whereas these seem really unpredictable and the effects seem to last for quite a long time.
 
“There have been a few cases where people have been really violent and people almost talk about ‘super strength’ that they have [as a result of taking them].
 
“At the moment there appears to be no test for the substances so that needs to be developed. And then I think there needs to be better training for staff in knowing how to respond and whether there are alternative medications that can be given.
 
“If you’ve got someone who is very, very violent, then there is a real challenge in dealing with that.”
 
The warning came as HM Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland published their annual report, which highlights a noticeable increase in the number of older prisoners across Scotland.
 
Strang has called for a “much more creative” approach in housing older prisoners who often have complex health problems, with inspectors planning an inspection of the area next year.
 
“Prisons, in general, are built to stop young men escaping and I don’t think these older men are an escape risk,” he said.
 
“It’s very expensive to adapt a cell [such as] if you’ve got to widen the door to allow a wheelchair in.
 
“I just wonder what more could be done in terms of perhaps looking at some sort of a residential facility that could be secure and might be a more appropriate way of containing men with physical disabilities and increasingly poor mental capacity.”
 
The chief inspector of prisons said that he remains impressed with the quality of relationships between staff and prisoners and praised work around family contact and throughcare.
 
However, he suggested a “wasted opportunity” exists in terms of purposeful activity, adding that there are too few places for work, education and training for the size of the prison population, compounded by a failure to ensure places are actually used.
 
SPS head of corporate affairs Tom Fox said: “We recognise the challenge of encouraging more and more people to take up the educational and training opportunities that are available in prison.
 
“We are also very cognisant of the challenge that the increasing number of elderly prisoners pose both for the services that we offer and our ability to provide the appropriate care that they need.
 
“Overall, we welcome the fact that the report recognises the value of the positive relationships that exist between prisoners and staff across Scotland and the very important role those relationships have in helping the rehabilitation and reintegration of those in our care.”
 
Fox added that new psychoactive substances produce “unpredictable and often very dangerous results in individuals” and that legislation designed to make them less readily available is welcome.