Study: National Survey on Addictive Behaviours in Prisons 2023
Today we publicly released the Preliminary Report of the National Survey on Addictive Behaviours in Prisons 2023. For a population of 11,705 inmates, 3,171 were selected for the survey, which corresponds to 27.1 per cent of the target population.
This survey aims to better understand and analyse trends in addictive behaviours and addictions in prisons and is promoted by the Institute for Addictive Behaviours and Addictions (ICAD, I.P.), an entity under the supervision of the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP) of the Ministry of Justice. Its objectives are: to estimate the prevalence of various addictive behaviours (illicit substances, tobacco, alcohol and gambling); to identify the type of crimes related to current imprisonment and their association with illicit substances, alcohol and gambling; to produce statistics and information comparable with that of other countries, namely within the scope of the indicators promoted by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) (illicit drugs) and the WHO (alcohol); and to characterise the various types of consumers of illicit substances and alcohol and their consumption patterns: type of substances used, frequency, continuity/discontinuity of their use, forms of administration and existing types of polydrug use.
Results
The data shows that the evolution of illicit substance use in the prison population in 2023 shows a downward trend from the peak seen in 2014. In 2023, 63.4 per cent of inmates surveyed indicated that they had used illicit substances at some point in their lives, a figure similar to that seen in 2007 (63.6 per cent) and below the 69.1 per cent obtained in the 2014 study.
Analysing the evolution of the prevalence of lifetime use by substance reveals that cannabis continues to be the most consumed drug(51.4%), but with a downward trend (-4.1pp compared to 2014). The prevalence of lifetime use is also very high for substances such as Cocaine (white): 33.6 per cent, Cocaine (crack/base): 25.7 per cent, Heroin: 21.3 per cent and Ecstasy: 20.6 per cent. With regard to the consumption of illicit substances inside prison, the prevalence of consumption recorded in previous years continues.
With regard to tobacco consumption inside prison, of the respondents who said they had consumed tobacco in any prison (77.2 per cent), 44.1 per cent had consumed this substance during the last month in their current prison. When analysing the frequency of tobacco consumption over this time horizon, it can be seen that in 2023, 65.5% of those surveyed who said they consumed tobacco in prison did so on a daily basis, a figure considerably lower than that recorded in 2014 (92.8%).
With regard to the consumption of alcoholic beverages in prison, 31.4 per cent of respondents reported consuming alcohol, a much higher figure than in 2014 (17.9 per cent). The same upward trend compared to 2014 is seen in the consumption of alcoholic drinks in the last 12 months and in the last 30 days in the current prison, with declared proportions of 20.8 per cent and 19.5 per cent, respectively. The increase (+13.5pp) in alcohol consumption inside prison was greater than that observed for the most recent periods of the last year (+8.5pp) and last month (+8.6pp) in current prison, with increases in the same order of magnitude.
As for gambling in prison in the last year, the overwhelming majority of respondents (91.9%) declared that they had not gambled for money, or in exchange for other goods/services, in prison in the last year.
In terms of the future, there is a need to continue to develop and implement effective addiction prevention and treatment programmes within prisons and to develop further efforts to support the social reintegration of prisoners.
Continuous data collection and periodic studies are considered essential to monitor trends in drug use in prisons and evaluate the impact of the interventions implemented. The importance of comparing national data with international studies is also emphasised, in terms of the valuable insights it can provide for improving public health and prison security policies and practices.