Drug Use in Prison: the experience of young offenders

Abstract

This article explores young offenders' drug use in prison. Qualitative research with inmates highlighted the importance of understanding drug use in prison as a continuum of behaviour, where inmates' drug use inside was related to their drug use before custody. The inmates made choices and decisions around their drug use inside, considering the compatibility of drugs with the prison environment and their need to seek the 'right high'. Availability of drugs was crucial and the article discusses the routes of drug supply into prison via visits and the informal prison economy, where the distribution of drugs was facilitated by close inmate friendship networks.