Deadly affect of artificial medicine in ‘hardest jail’ revealed in new BBC documentary
The impact of synthetic opiods in Britain’s prisons is laid bare in a new documentary that goes behind the barbed wire walls at Scotland’s toughest jail.
Inmates serving time in Glasgow‘s Barlinnie prison discuss the deadly risk they run taking synthetic opiods and other illicit substances.
One of the prisoners, called JP, speaks to the BBC crew about his efforts to stay clean.
However, during the period TV crews were in the jail, he collapses after smoking a vape believed to have been stuffed with synthetic opiates.
CCTV cameras covering the jail’s recreation yard show officers rushing to his aid but failing to revive him.
With his life at risk, he is rushed to Glasgow Royal Infirmary, later revealing that medics spent an hour resuscitating him.
Previous surveys have shown the extent of the prison drug problem in Scotland – with a study in 2023 revealing almost a third of inmates had illegal drugs in their system when released.
The most common drugs they tested positive for were synthetic opioid buprenorphine and benzodiazepines – also known as benzos.
One prisoner – called JP – was seen collapsing and being rushed to hospital after taking drugs
The scenes were filmed as crews went behind the razor wire at Glasgow’s notorious Barlinnie
Another drug causing chaos behind bars is nitazenes – synthetic opioids, similar to heroin or morphine – which are so potent that even tiny amounts can cause a potentially fatal overdose.
Nitazenes only arrived in Scotland a few years ago yet have already been linked to more than 300 deaths.
Speaking in the new BBC documentary Inside Barlinnie, one prison officer reveals: ‘We’re seeing guys constantly going out in ambulances because they are overdosing.
‘You know, the amount of drug deaths that are happening, guys are still taking it. It’s a real risk.’
The problem is being fuelled in part by drones being flown into the prison estate laden with drugs, mobile phones and weapons.
Prison bosses also discuss how substances can also be secretly passed to inmates by family and friends during their visits.
The Daily Mail previously revealed that the contents found in drones that were sezied in Scotland’s prison estate regularly contain an array of materials infused with drugs, such as powders, tablets, gels, putty, resins, pastes, crystals and paper.
These ‘poly substances’ can test positive for three or four different drugs each and have been found in dangerous concentrations.
A prison spokesman previously admitted: ‘We don’t know the strength of them or the effects they have until they play out in the prisons.’
As well as the threat to their own lives, the prison staff discuss how the synthetic drugs prisoners take can make them psychotic and violent.
Michael Stoney – the governor of Barlinnie – says: ‘The hardest bit nowadays is the unpredictability. Someone could take something that sends them over the edge – therefor presenting themselves as violent, aggressive, psychotic, and staff are having to control [that] individual.’
Michael Stoney – the governor of Barlinnie – said the synthetic drugs taken by prisoners can ‘send them over the edge’ making them more ‘violent, aggressive, psychotic’
Another prison officer says: ‘These synthetic opiates, it changes them completely. They become very aggressive, completely irrational.’
As well as drug dealers, addicts and other offenders that feature in the new BBC documentary is a young man jailed for ‘attacking a rival rapper with a baseball bat’.
The prisoner, referred to as ‘Junior’ in the programme, is introduced as he approaches the end of his 20-month sentence.
Looking ahead to life once he’s freed, he reflects on the impact of his conviction.
But rather than worry about his job prospects, he tells the BBC crew interviewing him: ‘This is good for my career. I’ve known that since the day that I got [sentenced].
‘When they told me you’re going to prison, in the court when the judge said it, I thought “Oh well, at least this will be good for my rap career”.’
When asked if he feels any guilt about benefitting from a violent crime, he responds: ‘Nah. At the end of the day, I’m just making the most of my situation.’
The new series explores several issues in the jail, such as the issues of alcohol and drug addiction among prisoners and the strain put on their family life as a result of their crimes.
It also follows some after they are released as they struggle to reintegrate into society.
■ The new series of Inside Barlinnie will be broadcast on BBC Scotland at 9pm on Tuesday, April 7, and BBC Two on Thursday April, 9. Episode one and two of the new series will be available on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday, April 7.
