ACTIONS

End unjust HIV Criminalization: Community Consensus Statement

PETITION TO GET RID OF ION SCANNERS

"Petition to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
Whereas:
  • The Ion Mobility Spectrometry device (ion scanners) is a drug-detection system used by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) in federal prisons. CSC has admitted ‘false positives’ occur frequently because the scanners are extremely sensitive, searching for the presence of drugs down to the nanogram. Individuals may unknowingly pick up trace amounts of prohibited substances by touching items like money or credit cards, or using certain household and hygiene products;
  • Ion scanners are improperly maintained due to lack of training and improper cleaning, increasing the frequency of false positives. This contradicts CSC’s Commissioner’s Directive 566-8-1 ensuring that “searching tools are routinely maintained and calibrated”;
  • The risk of a false positive adds an additional layer of stress for individuals visiting their loved ones. A positive hit on the ion scanner may result in their visit being denied. Visitors are powerless to dispute the results of their screening;
  • False positives may have serious consequences for inmates. Records of false positives go onto an inmate’s file and may affect future decisions regarding private family visits, transfers, and parole;
  • CSC guiding policy (Corrections and Conditional Release Act, 1992) recognizes the important role families play in the rehabilitation of inmates, yet the ion scanner is serving as a barrier to essential family support.
We, the undersigned, MOMS (Mothers Offering Mutual Support) Ottawa on behalf of all friends and family members who visit loved ones in Federal Institutions, call upon the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to conduct a full review of the alarming rate of "false positives" associated with the Ion Mobility Spectrometry, with the goal of exploring more effective alternatives for keeping drugs out of prison, while encouraging effective rehabilitation of inmates."

NEEDLE EXCHANGE IN PRISONS

"IN CANADA, PRISONERS FACE FAR GREATER RISK OF HIV AND HEPATITIS C VIRUS (HCV) INFECTION BECAUSE THOSE WHO INJECT DRUGS ARE DENIED ACCESS TO STERILE NEEDLES AND SYRINGES — TOOLS THAT ARE WIDELY AVAILABLE OUTSIDE PRISON SO PEOPLE ARE NOT FORCED TO SHARE EQUIPMENT. MOST FEDERAL PRISONERS IN CANADA WILL RETURN HOME TO THEIR COMMUNITIES, BRINGING WITH THEM THE ILLNESSES THEY CONTRACT IN PRISON. THIS, IN TURN, CAN AFFECT US ALL.
SIMPLY PUT, PRISON HEALTH IS COMMUNITY HEALTH.
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Prison needle and syringe programs (PNSPs) don’t just protect prisoners from infection. They would also protect the health and lives of all Canadians. Despite overwhelming evidence of the benefits of PNSPs from numerous countries around the world that have successfully implemented them, no Canadian prison currently permits access to sterile injection equipment. Calls for the Government of Canada to introduce these important harm reduction measures have been ignored.
 
But no more. On September 25, 2012, a former prisoner, community partners and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network launched a lawsuit against the Government of Canada over its failure to protect prisoners’ right to health and prevent the spread of HIV and HCV in Canadian federal prisons."
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