Prisons
Case dismissed
Why are recommendations to improve
custody-community transitions being
routinely ignored when so many lives are
at stake? DDN reports
A
s drug-related death rates continue to
rise there is one fact we can be sure of:
that newly released prisoners make up a
significant number of those who lose
their lives – there were 955 deaths of
offenders in the community in England and Wales in
2017-18. The few weeks after release pose a
particularly high risk.
The reasons for this can be complicated and
overlapping – tolerance to drugs has been
14 | drinkanddrugsnews | September 2019
compromised while chaos is reintroduced. Those who
find themselves in custody frequently have mental
and physical health problems, all kinds of background
trauma, and problems relating to their housing and
basic wellbeing – all mixed in with their problem drug
use. Leaving prison can mean confusion, uncertainty
and overwhelming difficulties with families,
accommodation and day-to-day living.
These issues have been well documented over the
years, with clear recommendations resulting from
reviews such as The Patel report: reducing drug-related
crime and Rehabilitating offenders: recovery and
rehabilitation for drug users in prison and on release:
recommendations for action, published by the
government in 2010.
But according to the Advisory Council on the
Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), the extent to which these
recommendations have been implemented is unclear,
with little evidence to suggest that they have led to
safer practice. In their report, Custody-community
transitions, released in June, they examined the
existing recommendations and, with input from
government departments, service providers and
charities in the sector, looked at what must change
(DDN, July/August, page 5).
A look at the ‘substantial harms’ that contribute to
the unacceptable death rate showed that many
prisoners were still being released without the
certainty of accommodation, increasing their risk of
relapse and reoffending. The risk of death post-release
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