- 66 Further, in the light of the information provided by the authorities to the CPT85, the Committee would like to be informed whether the above-mentioned prisoner has now been released on compassionate grounds or whether she is still being detained; in the latter case, the Committee wishes to receive a detailed account of the care being afforded to her. e. drug related issues 138. There was still no coherent and comprehensive drugs policy in place. Drugs appeared to be accessible in all the prisons visited and many prisoners admitted openly to using them. The comments made in the reports on the 2001 and 2005 visits remain pertinent.86 No studies have been undertaken to analyse the extent of drug misuse in Greek prisons, and at least one prison director met by the CPT’s delegation refused to accept that drugs were prevalent within his large prison, despite clear evidence to the contrary. The predominant approach remained that of attempting to combat drugs abuse through security measures – controls at the stage of entry into prison and a limited number of targeted urine tests. The prisons visited had no substitute providing programmes in place nor were any counselling programmes in evidence, or any other incentives for prisoners to stop using drugs. All prisons should have in place effective drug detoxification regimes for persons suffering from drug withdrawal upon entry to prison. Drug free wings were not promoted, and access to the Elaion detoxification centre remained theoretical for most prisoners given the criteria required for admission and its operational capacity of 50 places. 139. The CPT recognises that providing support to persons who have drug-related problems is far from straightforward, particularly in a prison setting. The assistance offered to such persons should be varied; detoxification programmes with substitution programmes for drug-dependent patients should be combined with genuine psycho-social and educational programmes. The setting up of a drug-free wing in prisons for certain categories of prisoners, inter alia those having completed treatment programmes prior to or during imprisonment, might also be considered. Further, all health-care staff and, more generally, prison officers should be given specific training on drug-related issues. Further, effective throughcare in partnership with community-based drug-related agencies should be put in place. In this respect, the programmes run by the Centre for the Treatment of Drug-dependent persons (KETHEA) in prisons should be expanded. In short, the approach towards substance misuse in prison should be part of a national drugs strategy, and should have as its goals, inter alia: eliminating the supply of drugs into prisons; dealing with drug abuse through identifying and engaging drug misusers, providing them with treatment options and ensuring there is appropriate throughcare; developing standards, monitoring and research on drug issues; and the provision of staff training and development. In the light of the above remarks, the CPT calls upon the Greek authorities to draw up a comprehensive strategy for the provision of assistance to prisoners with drug-related problems, as one aspect of a national drugs strategy. 85 86 In the authorities’ response of 23 November 2009, it was stated that this prisoner would be appearing before a court on 12 November 2009 to decide on a request for her conditional release from prison. See CPT/Inf (2002) 31, paragraph 97 and CPT/Inf (2006) 41, paragraphs 114 and 115.