Clean needle programs too dangerous, federal prison officials tell court
OTTAWA — Giving clean drug-injection needles to prisoners to stem the spread of infectious disease would make federal penitentiaries more dangerous places, senior correctional officials say.
Syringe needles could too easily be used as weapons, the Correctional Service of Canada’s security director and a veteran prison warden say in affidavits filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, which is helping lead a constitutional challenge of the federal refusal to provide clean needles, says the prison service’s stance makes no sense since inmates already have makeshift injection equipment made from contraband items.
It says needle and syringe programs have been successfully implemented in dozens of prisons in countries around the world for more than two decades without needles being used as weapons.