Opinion
Barry Artiste. Now Public Contributor
A step in the right direction when the federal government banned cigarettes in prison last year.
Yep, certainly prisoners who do not miss their freedom on the outside, may have to think twice now, if they miss being able smoke without having to wipe off the human excrement that encases it and pay up to $200.00 for the privilege.
Money is almost non existent or prison wages are around $7.00 a day.
Crime certainly doesn’t seem to pay very well when inside the big house.
Guess they should show that video to up and coming wanna be gangsta’s looking for “Street Cred”. “Street Cred” which seems to be washing your contraband in your filthy prison toilet in order to smoke it.
Certainly not as glamourous as Movies portray or Rappers portray in videos, cause Kids would not be buying what these types are selling, unless it comes with a roll of squeezable “Charmin toilet paper”.
Now everybody say “Bling, Bling!! Ewwww Crap!”
Drugs are typically smuggled into the Innes Rd. jail by “mules,” people either serving weekend sentences or cons on their way in, one longtime guard explains. (Sun media file)
http://www.ottawasun.com/News/OttawaAndRegion/2008/08/20/6508071-sun.html
August 20, 2008
Drugs behind bars
Smuggling in illicit substances is ‘big business’ at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre where a single cigarette goes for as much as $25 and a gram of marijuana for $200
By KENNETH JACKSON, SUN MEDIA
With the federal government planning to crack down on drugs smuggled into the nation’s prisons, Ottawa’s provincial jail faces many of the same issues in what is one of the most profitable markets for dealers in the city.
Inside the walls of the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre on Innes Rd., it’s a poorly kept secret that inmates have access to all types of illicit drugs, from painkillers to marijuana, despite the guards’ best efforts to keep them out.
Besides the need for many inmates to feed their addictions, a gram of marijuana can go for hundreds when it typically costs $10 on the streets.
The demand is high but there’s a smaller supply compared to on the outside, which motivates dealers to get the drugs in.
The most common drug smuggled is painkillers, be it morphine or oxycontin pills, because they are odourless.
One longtime guard says they smell burnt weed or hashish now and again, but they don’t turn up as frequently as painkillers or crack cocaine. He said if inmates do have weed, they usually tear a sheet out of a Bible to roll their joints.
DEBT TO DEALER
The veteran guard, who asked not to be named, says drugs are typically smuggled in using “mules.” These are people either serving their debt to society on weekends or cons on their way back in.
In other cases, a man on the outside may be in debt with a dealer. He can’t pay up so he is told to commit a crime so he’ll end up at Innes.
The common way these drug mules smuggle drugs inside is by “hooping.” A term used by guards and cons, it refers to hiding the drugs in one’s anus.
The guard said smugglers will use Kinder Surprise eggs and fill them with pills or cocaine. They also swallow balloons or condoms full of drugs.
If guards suspect a person is acting as a mule, they’re likely to be locked up in what’s known as a “dry cell,” and the guards wait to see if they’re right.
By law, guards aren’t allowed to perform a cavity search.
Water to the toilet and sink are shut off.
Many times, after holding it in for a while, an inmate will relieve himself and try to put the drugs back up, but according to the guard, without water it can get messy.
They check fingernails for human waste. “It’s pretty hard to get rid of s— under your fingernails without water,” the guard said.
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