Synthetic Cannabis 'Having a Devastating Impact in UK Prisons'

Chief inspector of prisons attributes deaths, serious illness and self-harm to cannabis substitutes ‘spice’ and ‘black mamba’.

Synthetic cannabis is having a “devastating impact” in British prisons and making it difficult for normal life to continue in some facilities, the chief inspector of prisons has said.

Sold as “spice” and “black mamba”, synthetic cannabis has been blamed for deaths, serious illness and episodes of self-harm among inmates, and some prison officers have reported falling ill from exposure to the fumes.

High demand for the compounds has fuelled more severe problems in the prison system than officers have faced from any other drug, with prisoners racking up greater debts, and suffering worse bullying and violence, Peter Clarke told the Guardian.

Don’t blame legal highs for prisoners’ problems. Blame prisons

“Prison staff have told me that the effect on individuals and prisons as a whole is unlike anything they have seen...

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