By C1 Staff
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The union representing correctional officers in California is warning against the dangers of providing free condoms to inmates, an attempt to combat AIDS.
“We absolutely support efforts to reduce the spread of disease in prison, but safe sex for inmates means more risk for officers,” Chuck Alexander, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said, according to SF Gate.
Alexander said that condoms can be used to hide or transport drugs, be melted down into weapons or be used as slingshots to fire projectiles, the newspaper reported.
He also said the new law will make it more difficult to stop rape in prison, since it allows rapists to “simply flush evidence.”
Condoms first became available in dispensers in state prison in late July. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation estimates that there are 1,240 inmates infected with AIDS, which may be understated since the prisons do not test inmates for the virus.
The state pays more than $18 million a year caring for the infected inmates.
Bills to provide condoms to inmates have been in the works and vetoed since 2006.
Alexander said that it was more likely for inmates to be infected with AIDS through dirty needles in prison, asking, “Will we be passing out clean needles next?”