A new report titled “The Growing Plague of Drugs in Illinois Prisons” by Illinois Council 31, chronicles the explosion of illegal drugs in Illinois’ prisons and the harm they are causing to the nearly 10,000 AFSCME members who keep that state’s prisons running.

“Over the past two years, these frontline workers have been confronted with an ever-increasing and dangerous problem in their workplace: the widespread proliferation and usage of illegal and illicit drugs within the general population of incarcerated individuals,” the report states.

AFSCME members perform a variety of roles within the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC), including security, food service, administration, medical and rehabilitation.

The report continues: “This drug use – ranging from fentanyl and ketamine to a massive influx of synthetic drugs […] has led to deaths and serious health emergencies. The explosion in illegal drug use has also put IDOC employees directly in harm’s way, both due to increasing drug-related outbreaks of offender violence and to exposure to potentially hazardous substances.”

Council 31 Executive Director Roberta Lynch emphasized that the proliferation of drugs makes a dangerous job even more hazardous.

“Corrections employees face difficult, stressful jobs under the best of circumstances. Working short-staffed makes it even more challenging. Illicit drug use by individuals in custody raises the risk further, making offenders unpredictable and adding the threat of accidental exposure to toxic, synthetic or unknown substances. Through our union, AFSCME members are speaking out for the right to be safe at work.”

Included are reports from union members who face illicit drugs on a nearly daily basis.

“It’s getting worse over the last two years,” said a corrections worker at the Pontiac Correctional Center. “It’s gone through the roof. Five years ago, you smell something burning, you’d be grabbing a fire extinguisher. Now you smell something, you know offenders are smoking something.”

The report also highlights the fact that illicit drugs are not only a danger to staff; they’re a danger to incarcerated individuals.

“I’ve seen a grievance from an incarcerated individual that said he’s trying to get help to stay clean, but the drug problem in the prison is so bad that it’s easier to access drugs in prison than outside,” said an employee at Graham Correctional Center.

Prison staff also described the danger to their physical health that comes with exposure to these illicit drugs. AFSCME Council 31 also provided numerous recommendations to stem and further evaluate the crisis.

Read the full report here.