Drug Use Stigma and Reprisal: Barriers to Prison Needle Exchange in Canada

After years of advocacy by a range of civil society groups, supported by scholarly and empirical research, Canada's federal prison service implemented a needle exchange program at select carceral institutions in 2018. Since the program rollout, however, uptake has remained minimal. To understan...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: De Shalit, Ann (Author)
Contributors: Van der Meulen, Emily ; Chu, Sandra Ka Hon ; Thomas, Rhiannon
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2024
In: The prison journal
Year: 2024, Volume: 104, Issue: 3, Pages: 344-364
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
Correctional Officers
Former inmates
Harm Reduction
community-based research
injection drug use
needle exchange
Description
Summary:After years of advocacy by a range of civil society groups, supported by scholarly and empirical research, Canada's federal prison service implemented a needle exchange program at select carceral institutions in 2018. Since the program rollout, however, uptake has remained minimal. To understand why, we conducted the first independent and national study of the program, interviewing 30 people who were incarcerated at one of the prisons with a needle exchange. Our findings show that drug use stigma and anticipated or actual reprisal from correctional officers, particularly related to breaches of confidentiality for program participants, markedly impede access and utilization.
ISSN:1552-7522
DOI:10.1177/00328855241240142