The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN) is denouncing Correctional Service Canada’s decision to implement the Prison Needle Exchange Program (PNEP) at Bowden Institution, as of March 1st. Through the program, federal inmates will be allowed to have their own needle in their cell to inject intravenous drugs.

James Bloomfield, Prairies Regional President for the Union, said they are disappointed in CSC's decision because they believe an Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) would be a safer option to address drug use in the prison system. 

"We've watched the positive results of the overdose prevention site just down the road of Bowden Institution (at the Drumheller Institution). It does not allow inmates to have needles in their cells. It allows them to inject those drugs under the supervision of a healthcare professional," Bloomfield said.

He explained that having the needles being used in an OPS means people aren't hiding from officers while they try to inject, alone and without the protection of a trained medical professional.

"Overdose prevention sites allow inmates to talk to healthcare professionals, who are trained on what is really available. If something does go wrong, there is a nurse standing right outside the door. With a prison needle exchange program, we have an inmate that will be found in a cell with a needle in their arm, on one of our patrols. If we're trying to keep them safe, it just doesn't make sense."

He said the increased risk for correctional officers to come into contact with a needle is decreased substantially with an OPS because the needles do not leave the site. With a PNEP, inmates are injecting alone and sometimes still sharing needles or losing them. 

"Our concerns have been expressed very clearly to our Correctional Service Canada leadership, and unfortunately they’ve chosen to go ahead with the PNEP, when they OPS is proven to be much safer.  It does not allow the needles to be in cells or shared, and the other problems I’ve explained are not a part of that," Bloomfield said.

"The intake from the inmates is tremendously high on the OPS in comparison to the needle exchange. There’s no real reason we can find at this point. The infrastructure supports it, staff supports it. They support the overdose prevention site as opposed to the prison needle exchange."

Stacey Carmichael, Executive Director of Red Deer's Turning Point, said she is thankful that they are bringing in some form of harm reduction but the ideal scenario would be to utilize both programs to address the issue of intravenous drug use. 

"Obviously I understand drugs are illegal and certainly shouldn’t be in prisons, but they are and we have to acknowledge that. In the end, harm reduction does make everybody safer," she said. 

"I understand that Bowden has opted to go for a PNEP rather than an overdose prevention site. Both are evidence-based harm reduction approaches that keep everybody safer."

"In an ideal world, I think they should have both. Some people might not want to use the OPS because they are afraid of being labeled, or they don't want to draw attention to their drug use. Even the needle exchange program has some of that, and then people share the needles. There's just so much stigma attached to drug use and I would imagine that is even worse inside the prison system."

Bloomfield and Carmichael both agreed that the goal of these harm-reduction methods is to reduce the infectious spread of diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C and to stop the deaths associated with drug overdose.