Drug & Alcohol Rehab Center for Quebec

Quebec Jails Nearing Crisis

People are put in prison for dealing drugs, so they continue to run their businesses from prison – and in prison. If a society cannot keep "drugs" out of prisons, then turning all of society into one vast prison is not going to make us "drug-free," just unfree. One may be forgiven for thinking that that is really the intent of such perverse policies.

After a year-long study of Quebec prisons, ombudsman Daniel Jacoby finds dangerous overcrowding, rampant drug use and a tension-ridden system that must be fixed immediately. Quebec prisons are in a terrible mess and on the brink of crisis, says a wide-ranging 80-page report released yesterday by the provincial ombudsman.

After a year-long study of the system, Daniel Jacoby’s findings paint a dismal picture of dilapidated jails, rampant drug use, dangerous overcrowding and a tension-ridden corrections system. "It’s a mess," said Jacoby, a former Quebec deputy minister of justice and lawyer. "I don’t know if I would yet call it dramatic, but there is a situation of crisis." The report, compiled after visits to the province’s 17 correctional institutions, features 53 recommendations. Among the key findings, Jacoby calls for the immediate suspension of proposed budget cuts in the penal system, an examination of the prison drug policy and the closing of at least one institution. "The budget cuts have seriously compromised the system’s ability to provide for the safety of inmates and guards," Jacoby said. "We have noticed an alarming increase in the number of substantiated inmate complaints. We find that many disciplinary methods are abusive and the level of training and counseling for inmates is unacceptable," he said.

Jacoby saved his most critical comments for the zero-tolerance drug policy, saying it was "a fiasco that hasn’t achieved its goals." And he even went as far as to characterize the explosion of drug use in prisons as an unintended effect of the province’s crackdown on outlaw bikers and warring criminal gangs. "The government has spent millions arresting and prosecuting outlaw bikers, and this is good E but they haven’t spent a dime on prisons. This should have been planned," Jacoby said. The Hell’s Angels bikers and their rivals, the Rock Machine criminal gang, have for years waged a bloody turf war over the province’s illegal-drug trade.

In his report, Jacoby estimated that between $40 million and $60 million in drugs flow through the prisons annually. "There is a commercial enterprise of drug dealing in the prisons," he said.

Another startling conclusion: the inmate population in Quebec has the highest suicide rate of any prison system in the country - a rate that is seven times that of the provincial average. And Jacoby found the overcrowding problem is worst in Montreal’s Bordeaux jail and Quebec’s Orsainville prison. Provincial figures show there are 3,700 prison inmates in Quebec at any given time. Most are incarcerated for very short periods of time, in fact, the law mandates that only inmates serving sentences shorter than two years be housed in provincial prisons. About 35 per cent of inmates currently housed in provincial jails are awaiting trial.

Reacting to the report, Public Security Minister Serge Menard told a press conference yesterday that the main problems with prisons is overcrowding. "We’re in the strange situation where criminal activity is going down, but the number of prisoners is going up," he said. But Menard said he was skeptical that Quebec would find more money in its next budget for spending on prisons. "I can make a request - like the other ministers," he said. "But I’m realistic. We will continue to cut (the budget) for at least one year." Menard pointed out that, for example, jailing those who cannot afford to pay fines for traffic violations adds to the overcrowding problem.

He added that such prisoners are also taking up much needed space in rehabilitation programs. He said the recent increase in convictions of organized criminals has also contributed to the troubled prison environment. Menard explained that his government’s policy of zero tolerance for organized criminals, like bikers, has meant many of them are being put in prison for minor infractions. They go to provincial jails rather than federal penitentiaries, he said. Menard agreed that drug use and drug sales run rampant in jails. His department, he said, will work harder to tackle this problem. When asked if he thought Quebec needs more prisons, Menard said the province needs to consider alternatives to putting people behind bars. "I can’t say we jail people too much, but I can say one thing, we jail people more than other (Western) countries, except for the United States." He said he has already promised the ombudsman the co-operation of all his department’s staff to attack the most serious problems.

Jacoby, whose candour has long provided a source of irritation for Parti Quebecois premiers Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard, said many of his report’s recommendations are administrative and attitudinal. He estimated the total cost of his reforms would be about $4 million.

Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Program

The Narconon program has worked for over thirty years to help patients end their addictions to drugs, alcohol, painkillers, and other controlled substances. The hallmark of Narconon is its ability to create a drug free rehab and drug-free recovery program that frees patients from the fears of substituting anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medication, and sedatives for the original drug.

Indeed, Narconon believes that a natural, holistic approach to withdrawal is the most beneficial program for a patient. Once a patient has rid himself of toxins in the body, the mind recovers from its need for addictions and the cycle of abuse ends gradually, permanently. Drug rehabilitation, alcohol rehab, and addiction-ending programs must begin with a withdrawal from the substance in question, often leaving the patient in the throes of anxiety, depression, fear, and substitute cravings.

At Narconon, we do not substitute addictions or leave patients to suffer through these withdrawals, but rather educate patients and help them to understand why the body created the addiction as a coping mechanism. Over time, as the body rids itself of biochemical toxins, we help them reclaim their life by taking control of their body. Through nutritional supplements, exercise, and simply sweating out toxins, they'll be able to speed withdrawal and enjoy life with a new structure of purpose and relief.