Correctional Service Canada is rolling out paper straws and thicker foil to federal inmates for what officials call “safer snorting” and smoking of illegal drugs.
The supplies, set to be distributed within the next two weeks, come in a four-page memo sent to staff at the 43 federal prisons the agency oversees. Prison nurses will hand out the items and instruct inmates on their use, with preparations beginning last Thursday. Inmates may keep up to two paper straws and three strips of foil in their cells, described as “reasonable limits based on anticipated use.”
“Using paper straws helps reduce harm by lowering the risk of cuts or tears inside the nose when compared to homemade or plastic straws,” the memo reads. The document, posted by an unnamed corrections officer on social media, states the single-use biodegradable straws are intended for inhaling “substances in powdered form” or “vapor from heated substances.”
The foil is “stronger and thicker” than household foil, according to the memo. “It is designed specifically for smoking substances,” the document notes, adding that the drugs might be in pill, rock or powder form.
The move comes “in response to increased inhalation, smoking and snorting substances among federal inmates,” the memo said. Nearly 20% of Canadian male inmates reported snorting drugs in prison, according to a 2025 Correctional Service Canada report. Another 24% said they smoked drugs, and 4% admitted to injecting behind bars.
“As methods of use evolve, harm reduction measures must also adapt,” the memo stated. Illegal drugs remain forbidden and subject to the same disciplinary action as before, it noted.
Since 2018, 13 federal prisons have operated needle exchange programs. Five facilities in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and Nova Scotia go further, offering safe injection sites where inmates can use smuggled drugs under medical supervision.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, 60, pushed back hard on the new policy. “Under our government’s watch, we will never let this happen in Ontario jails,” he wrote on X.
Federal opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, 45, also slammed the initiative. “This is exactly why criminals don’t get rehabilitated in prison,” he wrote on X. “The government helps them do dangerous, addictive drugs in prison that make them even more violent when they come out.”
Correctional officers and staff voiced outrage in online forums. “Who is in leadership? We can’t be the only ones questioning this. Why would they think this is okay? I want to believe this is a joke,” one commented in a Reddit thread. “Why are the prisons and government bending the knee to these inmates?” lamented another. Multiple staff members called the move “delusional” and “absolute insanity.”
The policy marks another step in Canada’s expanding prison harm reduction efforts, which have already outpaced most U.S. Jurisdictions. California state prisons and jails in Los Angeles and San Diego counties are among the few American facilities where inmates have direct access to naloxone for fentanyl overdoses.