There are two questions in that. One is whether or not we should have mandatory testing; the other is what the response should be to somebody's testing positive.
As many people are in prison for drug-related offences, does testing positive for drugs mean that one is then further punished for the thing one has already been caught for? Is that a thing that warrants treatment? We get to one of the nubs of the problems here: addiction is a problem with health and criminal justice consequences.
How we view a model of response to it, as a health issue or a correctional issue, becomes important for one to be clear about. We can wind up with both systems either tripping over one another or working synergistically. If drug misuse is a major contributor to why somebody is offending, should there be ongoing assessment of whether or not they're still abusing drugs? I think that's perfectly legitimate to do.
From a correctional perspective, what should be the response to somebody's testing positive? Should that be a right that ups your priority for getting treatment for that problem, or does that result in an extension of your incarceration or a loss of privileges? That's the point at which you get mixed messages about whether this is a health or correctional system response.
Why is that important? If you're wanting people from a health perspective to take responsibility for what they're doing, you want them to own up. If owning up is going to result in a worse outcome for them, rather than access to the treatment that they need, then you might drive further underground the problem that you're trying to address. Getting clarity in what we're doing is important.
Does this have to be mandatory for people with drug and alcohol problems in prisons? Yes, I think it probably does, but where it leads is also an important issue to get clear. It should be a process that encourages people to own up to what they're doing and then to access appropriate care. I know of some systems of in-prison drug and alcohol treatment under which a positive test for drug use makes you less likely to get treatment, because you're not yet abstinent, which seems perverse. You'd think it would be an increased demonstration of your need to get into treatment.
We have to be careful about not creating perverse drivers. We want a policy that encourages people to own up and then get access to treatment. This results in greater safety within prison as well as reduced public risk. Mandatory testing for ongoing drug use may well be a reasonable thing to do.