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Clean needles in prisons called ‘essential health care’ in court challenge
TORONTO — Denying drug-addicted prisoners access to clean syringes deprives them of essential health care, which is a violation of their constitutional rights, an Ontario court heard on Friday.
Additionally, activists argued in their application, a new needle-exchange program being rolled out in penitentiaries across the country fails to address the violation.
A former inmate, along with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and three other organizations, want Superior Court to find that prisoners have a right to easy, confidential, and effective access to syringe programs.
“Reasonable access to sterile injection equipment is an essential harm-reduction measure,” lawyer Lori Stoltz told Justice Edward Belobaba. “This is a public health problem. It is a public health imperative to provide prisoners with access to sterile injection equipment.”