Pubdate: Mon, 14 Sep 2015
Source: Peak, The (Simon Fraser U, Edu CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Peak Publications Society
Contact:  http://www.the-peak.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/775
Author: Theresa-Anne Clark Harter

INJECTING COMPASSION FOR DRUG ADDICTS IN PRISON

Moral superiority should not dictate whether an inmate lives or
dies

Injustices within prisons are disturbing, though not often thought of.
The rights of those who bend or break the laws forced upon them are
often forcefully disregarded, and inmates' physical and emotional
health is not a priority. Correctional Services Canada's value
statement conveys a message of fairness, encouragement and
rehabilitation opposed to the punitive mindset, which appears to be
the reality.

Recently in Regina, a 21-year-old woman named Breanna Kannick passed
away in her prison cell as a result of drug withdrawal. The loss of
her life left her family reeling in the aftermath, and questioning the
role the correction facility played in her death.

Upon arrival to the institution, there is an initial health
inspection, but such is done by facility employees, without a doctor
or nurse present. Perhaps with a more thorough inspection a dependency
would be legitimized and inmates could have easier access to
assistance. On the night of Kannick's death, she was vomiting and
shouting for help from her cell. A combination of greater empathic
responses from prison employees, proper health examinations, and care
could have saved Kannick's life.

The denial of proper treatment for an addict while incarcerated seems
more based on misplaced moral superiority rather than good policy or
science-based evidence. Sadly, addiction has always been an issue that
prompts some to hop upon their moral high horse, and is why it is
always difficult to have an adult discussion about drug use and harm
reduction.

Hysteria and moral panic created by conservatives and knee jerk
reactionaries is difficult to counter.

In popular discourse on the topic, ideological knee jerk reactions
seem to prevail. Though looking at the case of Insite, a safe
injection site here in the Lower Mainland, Dr. Thomas Kerr and Dr.
Evan Wood, co-directors of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the
British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, discuss in The
Vancouver Sun the success of Insite, noting that "sadly, ideological
debate about harm reduction continues, despite widespread agreement
among health authorities [. . .] that such programs are essential to
the fight against [. . .] drug-related harms."

It's clear that drug addicts should not only receive fair and humane
treatment in prison, but also that it would actually be of benefit to
follow harm reduction inside Canada's prisons. However, the hysteria
and moral panic created by conservatives and knee jerk reactionaries
is difficult to counter.

As Kerr and Wood also note that the discourse on prison injustice is
still being likened to past debates about cigarette smoking and global
warming. Critics continue to bombard offenses against scientists while
misrepresenting research along the way.

It seems a little ignorance goes a long way. Yet when it comes to
public policy, science and compassion should always trump
incomprehension and vengeance.
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