Federal government announces prison needle exchange program
Inmates at federal prisons across the country will soon be able to access clean needles for drug use, a decision that worries corrections officers, even while harm reduction advocates are applauding the news.
The Correctional Service of Canada announced this week that inmates housed in federal prisons will be able to access clean needles for injection drug use through a new needle exchange program. The exchange program will first be initiated at two prisons – one in Ontario and one in New Brunswick – and will be rolled out across all federal institutions beginning in January 2019.
In an emailed statement following the announcement, the CSC says the needle exchange program will only be offered within federal penitentiaries, which houses inmates serving sentences of more than two years. The CSC says the program will be rolled out across Canada as part of the New Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy, and will add to harm reduction initiatives already in place.
The new needle exchange program will be in line with other recommended interventions from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, including screening and testing of inmates, education about infectious diseases and prevention, methadone programs, and access to support and substance abuse programming, the CSC added.