The NPS crisis in british prisons
The use of NPS in prisons has become ‘the biggest issue we currently face from a prisoner
health perspective’ in the United Kingdom (UK; CSJ, 2015). Professionals working with
prison populations have been increasingly challenged by the recent dramatic increase
in the number of self-harm episodes, assaults between prisoners, and attacks on staff
related to the use of these substances (Ralphs, Williams, Askew, & Norton, 2017 Blackman
& Bradley, 2017 ). In 2018, over 44,000 cases of self-harm in prisons were reported
in England and Wales, refl ecting a record high in the 12 months to December 2017, following
substantial year-on-year increases (Ministry of Justice, 2018. Of people detained
in police custody, 16% reported current suicidal thoughts; 86% of this group reported
a history of self-harm or suicide attempts (Forrester et al., 2016).The spread of NPS
use in prison has also been linked to a dramatic increase in attacks on staff, which has
reached almost eight and a half thousand annual episodes, up 23% from the previous
year. Prisoner-on-prisoner assaults have also continued to increase, reaching a record
high of 29,485 incidents in the 12 months to December 2017 (Ministry of Justice, 2018).
In the three years up to 2016, a total of 79 deaths and two homicides have been explicitly
linked to the use of NPS ( Newcomen, 2016a ).