Prisons open tattoo parlours
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Prisons open tattoo parlours: Cost to taxpayers, $700,000.
Free needles for drug users also being considered to combat spread of disease
 
Carly Weeks
CanWest News Service


OTTAWA - The government has opened tattoo parlours in federal prisons and is looking at handing out clean needles to inmates who inject drugs.

For $5, federal prisoners can now get their favourite design or phrase -- but nothing racist or gang-related -- etched into their skin by a fellow inmate. The project is the first of its kind in Canada and believed by some to be the only one in the world.

It is a contentious pilot project that began in August at five federal prisons across the country, with the sixth parlour scheduled to open this month.

While tattoos have traditionally been illegal in prisons, many inmates construct makeshift needles out of whatever they can get their hands on, from pens to pieces of metal. Prisoners often pass around their crude devices, which leads to the spread of infectious diseases, particularly hepatitis C and HIV.

By bringing tattoos into the open, officials hope to curb the number of people who get infected from shared needles, said Michele Pilon-Santilli, spokeswoman for Correctional Services of Canada. "I know we've had some criticism from individuals," Ms. Pilon-Santilli said. "The bottom line is this is a public health issue. It's harm reduction."

Sites for tattoo parlours were chosen from each federal region. They are operating at Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., Cowansville Institution in Cowansville, Que., Bath Institution in Bath, Ont., Rockwood Institution in Stony Mountain, Man., and Matsqui Institution in Abbotsford, B.C.

A parlour was scheduled to begin operating at the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in British Columbia, but it has been delayed by construction.

The offenders who operate the machines receive training and refresher courses. The money collected from the tattoos goes to an inmate welfare account and can be used to purchase furniture to spruce up the tattoo shop, Ms. Pilon-Santilli said.

The total cost of the program is estimated to be $700,000, she said. While the parlours are scheduled to operate only until March 31, the Public Health Agency of Canada plans on applying for funding to extend the program.

The tattoo program may be a sign of steps to come. That is because the federal government is considering whether to hand out clean needles to inmates who inject drugs.

Correctional Services of Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have signed an agreement to work together to analyze the risks and benefits of prison-based safe-needle programs.

In September, officials from the two agencies, along with representatives from the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers and the Professional Institute of the Public Service, toured prisons in Spain and Germany that have needle-exchange programs. Needles are often shared by dozens of inmates, leading to the spread of blood-borne diseases.

"We have a responsibility to look at all options that are available when we're looking at trying to reduce the spread of infectious disease in our institutions," Ms. Pilon-Santilli said.

But if the government were really interested in preventing the spread of hepatitis C, HIV and other diseases in prisons, it would have brought in needle-exchange programs several years ago, said Glenn Betteridge, senior policy analyst with the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network.

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