NCJ Number
153292
Journal
Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 23 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 119-129
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article examines the nature of drug use in prison, based on systematic interviewing and drug testing in the Delaware correctional system.
Abstract
Two groups of Delaware inmates were interviewed in 1992. The first was composed of 18 residents of The KEY, a prison-based therapeutic community situated in a maximum-security institution in Wilmington, Del. The second included 28 residents of CREST Outreach Center, a work-release therapeutic community, also located in Wilmington. All respondents were participants in drug treatment programs. Some 60 percent of the respondents admitted to drug use in prison prior to their entry into therapeutic community treatment, and the remaining 18 subjects reported on activities they observed while in prison. All generally agreed that the drug most commonly used was marijuana, followed by cocaine and alcohol. Most drugs are brought into the prisons by either visitors or by the correctional officers. Recommendations pertain to comprehensive programming, program segregation, urine testing, and the recruitment of correctional officers supportive of rehabilitation and treatment of offenders. 1 table and 30 references