19/09/04
Prisoners will have to undergo random saliva testing for drugs as part of the State Government's multi-million dollar crackdown on drugs in prisons.
Justice Minister Michelle Roberts today announced a five-month trial of the new drug detection program, which could radically overhaul offender drug-testing procedures.
Mrs Roberts said the trial involved the first ever large-scale saliva testing of sentenced prisoners, as well as those offenders appearing before the Perth Drug Court.
"The message is clear - drugs will not be tolerated in prisons and offenders who abuse this will be caught and punished," she said.
"Saliva testing will streamline this drug detection process by slashing the waiting time for results from three days, for sampling urine, to just 10 minutes.
"It is also less invasive, takes fewer than 30 seconds to collect and is designed for detecting multiple illicit and prescribed drugs."
The Minister said drugs detected under the saliva testing trial included amphetamines, methadone, benzodiazepines, cannabis, methamphetamines, cocaine and heroin.
"This will have considerable benefits for prison officers and community corrections officers who suspect prisoners, parolees or those on court orders were continuing to abuse drugs," she said.
Mrs Roberts said the saliva drug testing was another important step in the Government's $2.2million anti-drug plan in prisons.
"Our Government is committed to making our communities safer and more secure and this trial will better equip prison officers to crackdown on this evil trade," she said.
The Minister said a total of 1,200 saliva samples would be randomly collected, using two on-site saliva drug-testing devices. Prisons taking part in the trial include Bandyup, Hakea, Wooroloo and Acacia and the Community and Juvenile Justice centre at the Perth Drug Court.
"Currently, urinalysis is the primary method used and recognised for drug testing in Australia," she said.
"However, saliva drug testing may prove to be a highly effective, non-invasive alternative which is less vulnerable to tampering by sample donors."
Mrs Roberts said the trial would assess the validity of two commercially available saliva-testing devices in determining drug concentrations in saliva.
Minister's office: 9213 6600
