More than 30 inmates tested positive for drugs from April to December last year, Junior Home Affairs Minister Walter Roban told the House of Assembly yesterday.

Speaking in the Budget Debate on Corrections, Mr. Roban said more than 20 had taken marijuana, three cocaine and six ecstasy. Mr. Roban said efforts to combat drugs in prisons included changing the arrangements for prison visits and increased use of sniffer dogs.

United Bermuda Party MP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said prisoners who worsened their drugs habits while incarcerated would find it more difficult to stay crime-free when returning to society. Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin also said drugs could be a factor behind the recidivism rate's rise from 68 percent last year to 78 percent now.

She said while drug offences among recidivists had decreased, crimes against property — often linked to drugs — had gone up.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said something needed to be done to make prison less attractive so that offenders would be less keen to reoffend.

However, her party colleague Shawn Crockwell, who served a lengthy jail term after stealing drugs before becoming a lawyer, later argued there were no amenities in prison to attract anybody back.

Mr. Crockwell said increasing recidivism was more likely due to too many inmates being ill-equipped to survive in the outside world when they leave prison.

"They come back into society, they don't have the support that's required for them to be productive," said Mr. Crockwell.

He agreed with Mr. Roban's earlier point that the community, such as the church, needed to provide support.

Mr. Roban also spoke of initiatives such as education programmes aiming to give people a better chance when they leave prison. "It's very important to know there's a vibrant programme which some people have suggested there isn't," said Mr. Roban.

He said 131 inmates were involved in 12 classes, learning skills such as writing, maths, reading, science and computers.

Eighteen people have graduated in 2007/08 so far, with Mr. Roban saying: "Each inmate who graduates is a sprinkling of hope for everyone."

Former Health Minister Michael Scott praised new prisons chief Eddie Lamb, whom he said embraced the Alternative To Incarceration (ATI) philosophy.

"He regards every one of those inmates as his personal charges, and each and every one of them must be salvaged and rehabilitated," said Mr. Scott.

In this year's Budget, the Department of Corrections gets $27.7 million, a rise of seven percent on last year. This works out at just under $70,000 per inmate, based on maximum capacity.