Tobacco, cannabis, cocaine: very high usage in French prisons

Tobacco and cannabis use is widespread in prisons, at levels much higher than in the general population, according to the latest study Survey on health and substances in prison (ESSPRI) from the French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT).

The ESSPRI survey interviewed a sample of 1,094 male prisoners, representative of the male prison population, from April to June 2023.[1]These results echo data from the World Health Organization, which has been warning about the levels of smoking prevalence in European prisons, systematically two to four times higher than the national average.

More than 6 out of 10 prisoners are daily tobacco users

The survey results show a very high prevalence of smoking among incarcerated men. This is the drug that is widely consumed. Thus, in 2023, 73% of prisoners reported being smokers, and 63% reported using tobacco daily. As the report highlights, the prevalence of daily smoking among prisoners is 2.5 times higher than that of non-incarcerated men. However, consumption levels vary greatly depending on age: 55% of prisoners aged 35 and over report being daily smokers, compared to 69% among 18-34 year-olds.

Low and mostly occasional alcohol consumption

Conversely, alcohol consumption among incarcerated men is significantly lower than that observed in the general population. Thus, 16% of prisoners reported having consumed alcohol at least once during their detention, and only 3.7% reported having drunk in the month preceding the survey. In the same way as for tobacco, alcohol consumption is more marked among younger prisoners: 5.2% of 18-34 year-olds reported having consumed alcohol at least six times, compared to 2.7% of prisoners aged 34 or over.

High prevalence of cannabis in French prisons

The survey also shows that cannabis is the most widely used illegal substance in prisons. Thus, 49% of prisoners reported having used it during their detention, and 26% of incarcerated men reported using it daily (39% reported smoking cannabis at least once a month). These levels of consumption, eight times higher than in the general population, also tend to decrease with age, since the prevalence of daily use among 18-34 year-olds (35%) is more than twice as high as among those over 34 (15%).

Other illegal substance use observed in prison

The consumption of other illegal substances (heroin, cocaine, crack, ecstasy), although significantly lower than that of cannabis, nevertheless remains particularly high. Thus, 14% of all prisoners reported having used at least one of these four products during their detention. Cocaine is thus the second most commonly used illegal substance by prisoners after cannabis, with 12% of them reporting at least one use during their detention, followed by crack (5.1%), heroin (4.7%) and ecstasy (4.5%).

Polyconsumption and continuity of use

The survey shows that consumers of these psychoactive substances are mostly polydrug users. Thus, while 32% of the prisoners surveyed do not consume tobacco, alcohol or cannabis, a similar proportion report combining daily tobacco consumption with monthly cannabis consumption. Furthermore, prisoners reporting only consuming one substance (32%) are mainly smokers (27%). Furthermore, the study highlights a continuity in usage: the overwhelming majority of prisoners reporting smoking during their detention were previously smokers. However, half of the smokers report an increase in their consumption since their incarceration.

Adapting health policies to the prison context

In light of these data, the OFDT suggests the need to consider a "possible adaptation of health policies in terms of prevention and treatment of addictions to the reality of observed consumption", as well as an intensification of public policies to combat smoking in prisons. The authors of the study also emphasize that these high levels of consumption for all of these psychoactive products are part of a more general framework of prison overcrowding, degraded living conditions, and fragile mental health for the majority of prisoners.

©Generation Without Tobacco

FT

[1] Survey on health and substances in prison (ESSPRI), French Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies (OFDT). Drug use in prison, May 2024, (accessed 05/13/2024).