Mandatory drug testing in prisons

Mandatory drug testing was introduced in all prison establishments in England and Wales by March 1996. This research was designed to shed light on a variety of issues, ranging from whether MDT influenced prisoners' drug use, to staff responses and the wider impact of MDT on the prisons drug strategy and treatment programmes. Information from this contributed to shaping the Prison Service's drugs strategy "Tackling drugs in prison", published in May 1998.