Free needles and vapes should be handed out to prisoners so they can take Class A drugs in a safer way behind bars, a majority taxpayer-funded group has claimed.
The Scottish Drugs Forum – which received almost £2 million from the public purse last year – has suggested the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) should provide drug paraphernalia so inmates can inject narcotics in prison.
That is despite guards battling a drug crisis as more than a third of inmates have admitted taking illegal substances in prison, with more than a quarter saying their drug use only started – or increased – while in custody.
The ‘appalling’ suggestion comes just weeks after The Mail told how drones found laden with drugs and needles had been flown into jails, as organised crime groups target addicts in the prison estate.
The forum’s plan – set out as Health Secretary Neil Gray last week said a heroin shooting gallery in Glasgow may be extended to allow addicts to inhale crack cocaine – sparked anger last night.
