Drug Use in Prison: Patterns, Processes, and Implications for Treatment

Abstract

Although there seems to be a consensus that “drugs are in every prison,” and that “prison drug use is widespread,” little is really known about the prevalence and patterns of drug use in prison. What appears in the academic and research literature is at best anecdotal, suggesting only that drug use and trafficking exist in correctional settings, and that the control of drugs by inmates is in part related to prison violence. Similarly, press reports descriptive of drug use in prison typically focus on trafficking networks and the complicity of prison personnel, rather than on prevalence and patterns of use. Within this context, this article addresses the nature of drug use in prison, based on systematic interviewing and drug testing in the Delaware correctional system. Some conclusions and implications are offered relative to the impact of prison drug use on corrections-based therapeutic initiatives.