CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND?

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND?

I readily acknowledge that I am not the smartest patient in the asylum, and I require someone to explain a lot of things to me, such as the following government initiative. The federal government wants to provide supervised injection sites within all federal prisons. It involves inmates having access to needles so that they can inject themselves with illicit drugs in a supervised setting with nursing staff present.

There are just a few issues and questions about the above initiative that are troubling to me. My limited understanding is that inmates of federal prisons have committed some serious criminal offense that has resulted in their incarceration. They can generally not be categorized as “nice guys or gals”. They have forfeited many of the rights and privileges of law-abiding citizens and as a consequence, there are many former activities they no longer have access to. They can not come and go as they wish, they can not go to restaurants and movies, and they can not get drunk or high on drugs as if they were free.

Because our inmates have very restricted privileges and are closely supervised by prison guards, they do not have access to alcohol or drugs. Corrections Canada has long tried to keep drugs from entering prisons but acknowledges that contraband drugs regularly find their way to inmates. Well, let’s stop there! Has the Canadian penal system admitted that they are incapable of preventing illicit and illegal drugs from entering our prisons? Are they admitting that the drug dealers are smarter than any security or screening system we could devise? It appears that is the case, and in my opinion, it is not only a very sad commentary but a condemnation of our prison operations!

If our prison system is so incapable of stopping drugs from getting into our prisons, then it appears there is only one logical next step. We - the prison system - will make needles available to drug-using inmates. A needle exchange program within the prison will prevent inmates from sharing needles and spreading diseases like hepatitis C and HIV. Well isn’t that thoughtful! We wouldn’t want to allow our incarcerated criminals to put their own lives or their fellow con’s lives in danger!

Despite the risks of sharing needles, our prison guests still share needles as they find the logic so hard to understand. In order to eliminate any more stress from their lives, Corrections Canada wants to introduce the supervised injection site program so that our societal guests remain happy and healthy. A nurse, who might be conducting some other more meaningful service, is probably ecstatic that she is managing to keep another junkie alive for another day.

In my opinion, the entire situation above is completely unacceptable. Why are we providing, in our prisons, the support to drug addicts to safely continue their practices, rather than trying to stop or minimize them? Why isn’t the money spent on needle-exchange programs and safe injection sites used to develop more successful screening procedures to prevent drugs from entering our prisons?

If anyone can help me understand this conundrum, please get in touch! It would also be very comforting to me to know that our government would be as supportive of my needs for medications and health care as an aging senior as they are to convicted felons who are given special treatment to prevent them from overdosing on the contraband hard drugs that they need. Very comforting indeed!