Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2001 Source: Hamilton Spectator (CN ON) Copyright: The Hamilton Spectator 2001 Contact: http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/181 Author: Susan Clairmont DRUG SEIZURES DOUBLE AT JAIL Drug seizures at the Hamilton jail nearly doubled in one year while the number of drug seizures made at provincial jails dropped. Contraband drugs were found 47 times in 2000 at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre, compared with 25 times in 1999. Meanwhile, the total number of seizures at Ontario's 42 adult correctional facilities dropped slightly to 430 last year from 436 in 1999. Edward Almeida, president of the Hamilton jail guards union, says that cuts to recreational time and an increase in numbers means more prisoners have more time on their hands to dream up new ways of smuggling in contraband. "You're never going to get rid of contraband as long as the inmates have nothing to do all day," he said. According to information The Spectator obtained under the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Ontario's jails are one-stop shopping centres for drugs and weapons. Just this Thursday, a visitor to the Hamilton jail was arrested after passing 41 drinking straws stuffed with marijuana, rolling papers and an unknown substance now being tested to an inmate through a grate in a Plexiglas partition. Jail staff didn't see a thing. They only found out about the exchange when another visitor told staff about it, police said. A 19-year-old Hamilton man has been charged. That incident demonstrates that inmates with a will can find a way to get virtually any contraband they want while they're behind bars -- except firearms. Guns seem to be about the only illegal items not found in Ontario's jail system. The contraband found in the Hamilton jail in recent years includes: * Marijuana and cocaine smuggled in by an inmate's mother and grandfather during visits so the inmate could sell it to other prisoners. * Methadone, Valium and cocaine used by a female inmate to overdose in 1998. Another female inmate fatally overdosed in October last year. * Heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, hash and hash oil worth $4,500 allegedly smuggled into the jail by a prominent Hamilton defence lawyer. He is facing five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking. * Live bullets -- but no gun -- were tossed over the wall of the jail's exercise yard and found by a guard. Almeida says the numbers the jail submits to the Ministry of Correctional Services each year represents a very small portion of the items actually believed to be in the facility. Also, very small amounts of uncovered drugs are not recorded. "They just get flushed," he says. Last year, Guelph Correctional Centre recorded 77 drug seizures. Maplehurst Correction Centre followed with 62 and Hamilton was third with 47. In 1999, Guelph again topped the list with 116, Maplehurst was next with 88, Rideau Correctional Centre had 27 and Hamilton came fourth with 25. The ministry says those numbers include street drugs as well as prescription drugs hoarded and taken improperly. For both last year and 1999, ministry records show drugs were seized at every one of the province's 42 adult jails. The most common way for drugs to come into the jail is by being inserted into inmates' body cavities, says Almeida. Some visitors to the jail -- friends, family, volunteers and lawyers - -- are allowed "touch visits" where physical contact is permitted. That's an opportunity. And inmates attending court can sometimes be passed drugs by newly arrested prisoners they meet in the holding cells. And it isn't unheard of for jail guards to make extra cash by smuggling drugs to inmates. Metal detectors are regularly used to search for weapons in inmates' cells, but most of the items can't be detected because they're made plastic, says Almeida. A melted toothbrush can be fashioned into a shiv, jail slang for a knife, and a toilet bowl brush was once whittled into a sharp weapon. Earlier this year, a Swiss Army knife was found on a prisoner, Almeida says. Last year, the Hamilton jail and Metro Toronto West Detention Centre topped the province's list for the highest number of contraband weapons found by guards with five each. In 23 of Ontario's 42 jails, no weapons were found. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe