Police Sniff Out Drugs At Mental Health Unit

Sniffer Dogs trained to find illegal drugs are being used in a mental health unit in Highgate. The dogs were used in 16 police searches of nine wards run by the Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust (CIMHT) over 12 months. Officers found two crack pipes and two cannabis joints.

Uniformed police took dogs to the Highgate Mental Health Centre in Dartmouth Park Hill, Highgate, and the Huntley Centre at St Pancras Hospital, Camden Town.

A Trust spokesman said it was part of an ongoing attempt to ensure patients were kept safe. In the past, staff used breathalysers to check patients had not been drinking.

Liz Jones, director of nursing at CIMHT, said: “We are pleased the use of drug dogs on our wards has been well received by service users and staff. It is great reflection of the fact that everyone has a right to be treated and work on wards without the spectre of illicit drugs being present.

“The use of drugs such as cannabis is known to have a detrimental effect on those recovering from mental illness and is a problem we want to address. The intial effectiveness of the pilot scheme has been encouraging. We will continue to carefully monitor the impact and seek the views of service users and staff.”

A questionnaire that prompted the scheme found half of staff and patients had seen drugs being used on the wards.

In a report to the Trust’s board, researchers said they believed the small amount found could be because patients no longer stashed their drugs but instead used them immediately. The report also highlighted an increase in the use of khat, the highly addictive chewing leaf used widely in West Africa.

It found that cannabis was the most widely used drug on mental health wards and that there had been an increase in the number of people found smoking it over the past year. But researchers said this was also because of a change in the way incidents were reported.

Last week, the Ham&High reported the sentencing of Malachi Adam-Smith, 20, who was jailed for life after he ran over a cyclist in a stolen van. He had absconded from the Dartmouth Park Hill unit after being granted two-hours leave. The Old Bailey heard Malachi-Smith had been smoking cannabis before the accident.