Summary: Substance Abuse In Prisons

The four concepts chosen to be discussed in this chapter are Prisoners Who Use Drugs, Aboriginal Prisoners, Women Prisoners, and Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Prisoners.
Drug use is one of the main reasons individuals are put into the prison system. Four out of five prisoners have a significant drug abuse history. This alarming percentage shows how often drugs are involved in the incarceration of many inmates from all walks of life. Although prisons are supposed to be a secure and closed environment, they often have many gaps that feed the addiction of many inmates. Any outsiders (volunteers, guards, etc) that come into the prison have often been found to bring drugs into the correctional system to sell to the inmates. This problem makes it difficult …show more content…
The aboriginal population is significantly oppressed in Canada and throughout the world which amplifies the number of Aboriginals that are in prisons today. Systemic racism has created a continuous cycle of instutionalization. Aboriginal prisoners are more likely to serve more time in prison opposed to non-Aboriginal inmates. Systemic racism has created many challenging obsticles for the Aboriginal community and substance abuse issues are one major result of this. Many of the Aboriginal prisoners have been placed in jail for substance abuse. There is a lack of social programs in prisons for the Aboriginal community. The programs that the prisons offer are often called “Indianized”. The Aboriginal communities are diverse cultures with languages and traditions and therefore standardized Aboriginal programs that are offered are stereotyping a whole community.
Women in prisons make up a small percentage of the prison system. Only 5% of prisoners are women. There are a few main reasons women are often put into prisons. Most of the women that are placed into the prisons have had a history of drug abuse and poverty. Having poverty in their background, some of the women often try and find other means of income such as shoplifting and prostitution which results in them being incarcerated. These are all intersectionalies of oppression and seem to have a common and vicious …show more content…
This topic is very touching to me as I am very passionate about eventually having the opportunity to advocate the importance of social programs in prisons that revolve around drug use and abuse that are designed to work with the prisoners and their specific needs. Drug use and addiction is a form of mental health- so why is it treated like a crime? In my personal opinion, I do not believe that individuals should be put into prisons if they have a substance abuse issue. Although this is not the case and having an addiction results in prison time, the prison system should offer a significant amount of programs that can provide the prisoners with the help they may need to better their lives. Although there are a few programs offered, for the amount of inmates that have had or have a substance use issue throughout their lives, there should be specialized programs that can be offered to the prisoners. It really shows how corrupt the prison system is when there are a high percentage of prisoners that are still able to get drugs even though they are supposed to be in a “closed environment”. Security and staff of the prisons are often caught selling drugs to the inmates who are suffering significantly due to addiction and are desperate. If the prisoners are caught with the drug, they are the ones that will suffer the negative consequences. The cycle will continue and nothing will ever change in a positive manner if