asked the Minister for Justice the number of prisoners who are addicted to drugs; and the course of treatment available for the treatment of drug addicts in prison.
Written Answers. - Drug Addiction in Prisons.
83.
It is not possible to give a precise figure for the number of prisoners who are addicted to drugs but the best estimate is that about 200 offenders at present in custody were abusing drugs prior to their committal. This estimate is essentially based on self-reporting by offenders and, accordingly, should be treated with some caution.
The most immediate medical need of a drug abuser committed to custody can be detoxification and this is arranged by the prison medical officer.
The Deputy will appreciate that the question of the provision of treatment for prisoners addicted to drugs is a complex one and that the prison service cannot offer some ready made cure for an offender's drug addiction. It has to be borne in mind that in the case of many of these offenders the attempts which have been made in the community to turn them away from drug taking have not been successful — despite the best efforts of the various agencies involved.
Nevertheless, while in prison, drug abusers — as with other offenders — have an array of services available to them such as medical, psychiatric and psychological, welfare, chaplaincy and educational. In addition, a number of community-based agencies involved with the problem of drug addiction visit the prisons and work with individual offenders. The key factor, however, is the offender's commitment to giving up drugs.
I should add that, where there are indications that an individual prisoner has the necessary commitment and appears to pose little risk to the community, successive Ministers have been prepared to consider release at a relatively early stage of sentence for such a prisoner to attend at a community-based treatment centre such as Coolemine.