27 October 2010

Liberals push for Acid and Ice at the Hume Hilton

| johnboy
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The ABC informsus that the Liberals’ Jeremy Hanson is introducing a bill into the Assembly today mandating monthly random drug testing of 5% of the prison population.

Apparently he’s only after catching the downers though:

The ACT Opposition will put forward a bill in the Legislative Assembly today which would introduce random drug testing at Canberra’s jail.

The bill will call for 5 per cent of prisoners to be tested each month.

Opposition MLA Jeremy Hanson says the drug testing would concentrate on opiates and marijuana.

Quite why he’s keen to encourage stimulants is a mystery.

A set random testing regime, however, sounds better than Simon Corbell’s recipe for corruption:

But Attorney General Simon Corbell says a testing regime is already in place.

“People are selected based on their past criminal history, based on intelligence that we have in the jail, and also based on our assessment of other circumstances that may warrant it and we undertake random mandatory drug testing,” he said.

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Jack out of the box1:25 am 29 Oct 10

Shame John Boy didn’t actually go and have a listen to the debate before posting this. Review of the full debate will reveal that Corbell noted a number of recent occasions where all inmates have been tested.

And maybe something more than casual review of media reports of the happenings in the Assembly would inform some Riot ACT friends of current measures actually in place to detect drugs in the Hume Happy Inn (it is certainly no Hilton).

It is also lazy politics to use the issue of drugs in the prison for quick wins. As the saying goes “where the is a will, there is a way”. Just as new means to detect drugs are implemented, addict inmates will continue to find innovative ways to circumvent these measures. What we need to be talking about is strategies that will prevent people from becoming addicted in the first place, and I’m not talking about waging “war on drugs”.

Does Hanson know something we don’t about drugs in jail?

JB – Not sure I understand your point about “Simon Corbell’s recipe for corruption”

boo boo said :

Why not test them all?

The cost to the tax payer, oh god the cost to the tax payer.

colourful sydney racing identity3:25 pm 27 Oct 10

p1 said :

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Might increase crime rates though…

Not if you never let them out, because you keep increasing their sentence for smoking pot…

now there’s an idea.

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Might increase crime rates though…

Not if you never let them out, because you keep increasing their sentence for smoking pot…

bitzermaloney2:16 pm 27 Oct 10

Strange… we never had a drug problem in gaols until a couple years ago?

Common Sense1:42 pm 27 Oct 10

This works in the UK and is the same as we have in NSW. In the UK it reduced drug use in jails by about 50%.

Random drug testing? or just testing for these drugs?

colourful sydney racing identity1:14 pm 27 Oct 10

p1 said :

Pommy bastard said :

It shows the lack of insight with Jeremy Hanson, that he wishes to test for, and presumably eradicate, the drugs which keep people mellow and less trouble, while ignoring those that spark aggression and violence.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to give them free pot? Make the so stoned they can’t be arsed smuggling in heroin? Might not help much with the rehab, but would seriously reduce violence.

Might increase crime rates though…

Pommy bastard said :

It shows the lack of insight with Jeremy Hanson, that he wishes to test for, and presumably eradicate, the drugs which keep people mellow and less trouble, while ignoring those that spark aggression and violence.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to give them free pot? Make the so stoned they can’t be arsed smuggling in heroin? Might not help much with the rehab, but would seriously reduce violence.

Pommy bastard said :

More “playing to the peanut gallery”.

It shows the lack of insight with Jeremy Hanson, that he wishes to test for, and presumably eradicate, the drugs which keep people mellow and less trouble, while ignoring those that spark aggression and violence.

The man’s an idiot.

Wouldn’t the ones that spark aggression and violence make the offenders stand out anyway? It’s an automatic free drug test.

Right behind Col. Hanson on this matter. The less drugs in gaols, the better.

colourful sydney racing identity11:55 am 27 Oct 10

Pommy bastard said :

More “playing to the peanut gallery”.

It shows the lack of insight with Jeremy Hanson, that he wishes to test for, and presumably eradicate, the drugs which keep people mellow and less trouble, while ignoring those that spark aggression and violence.

The man’s an idiot.

Spot on PB, spot on.

Pommy bastard11:41 am 27 Oct 10

More “playing to the peanut gallery”.

It shows the lack of insight with Jeremy Hanson, that he wishes to test for, and presumably eradicate, the drugs which keep people mellow and less trouble, while ignoring those that spark aggression and violence.

The man’s an idiot.

Maybe they should take a sample from every single prisoner every single month, send them to the lab, and let the lab decide which samples to randomly test?

Why not test them all? Surely that would provide more accurate intelligence.

amarooresident310:50 am 27 Oct 10

What is the evidence that random testing would be better than the current regime?

harder to manipulate who gets tested.

Tetranitrate10:32 am 27 Oct 10

uh. why should we give a damn if they’re smoking pot? It isn’t like anyone other than the government gives a damn about people smoking marijuana outside of prison.
Oh right, answered my own question.

If the ACT Govt. is serious about preventing drug usage in jail, they should deal with the problem of how the inmates are receiving drugs. I know that visitors are screened to bits. So what about the staff ? I hear some people have a nice little earner going there.

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