SCI-Phoenix's Unique Drug Culture

I have been at this prison since November 2024. After doing some moving around and socializing among other prisoners here at SCI Phoenix I’ve gotten used to the way things work here. This prison is ran so differently from any other institution that I have ever been to in my whole 12 years of incarceration.

I’ve been transferred to a number of different state prisons and drugs were an issue at each and every one of them that I’ve previously been to. Every now and again somebody would either pass out, or have some kind of aggressive or violent reaction as a result of smoking K2. These occurrences are widely known to everyone among the prison population as “Eppi”s – short for the word episode. Every prison that I have been to, once every so often someone would either have an episode, or they would pass out to the point of unconsciousness from smoking K2. K2 is the number one drug of choice among the PA prison population everywhere. Suboxone use is popular and ranks second. Here at SCI Phoenix drugs are a problem. A “Detox Unit” was set up and established. It is located within the (RHU) Restricted Housing Unit, or in other words, The Hole.

Remember I can only speak from my knowledge based on what I’ve seen, and I have never seen or heard of such a unit anywhere, and I would bet anything that this institution is the only institution with a detox unit in Pennsylvania. Among other things this detox unit is used for those who have episodes from using K2. So far since I’ve been here I have never witnessed a violent or aggressive episode. I have only seen incidents where as a result of use, the person would display in their words, as well as in their actions, a clear indication that they are high from K2. For example, the last person I witnessed like this walked around with the “50 yard stare”, a look on his face as though he’d seen a ghost. He was also afraid to go into his own cell, which was a single occupant cell. He was ordered to lock into his cell by the pod officer, and the pod officer stood by his opened cell, waiting, and ordering him to lock-in, while he stood off to the side in protest, with a look of horror on his face. His speech was slurred and he was also disoriented the whole time. What’s surprising about this is that the pod-officer clearly knew that he was high. He gave multiple orders for him to lock in his cell. He even threatened him with the Hole if he did not step inside the cell so he could close the door as he was patiently waiting to do. This stand-off ended with the guy asking to speak to psychology staff, at which point the pod officer sent him to the psychology staff’s office. As I have mentioned, I’ve been to about 4-5 different PA state prisons and I’ve never witnessed an incident take place in that manner before. If an officer gives an order that is refused, it will result in being placed in the Hole for sure. Showing signs of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol is another sure way to not only end up in the hole immediately, but it’s also grounds to be tested for drugs and alcohol and also have your cell searched and tossed. But none of this happened here. Those things are standard procedures in most, if not all other institutions in PA. What I have learned about this institution and the way it works may not be 100% accurate, but I assure you that I am close.

Most of the correctional officers at this institution are young African American and Spanish or Hispanic. Most of them are young, and most of them are from urban areas and communities, most likely places like Philadelphia, Chester, Upper-Darby, which are the surrounding or neighboring urban areas to the city of Philadelphia. This is a fact which is not difficult to find out. But because of this fact, it is the root cause and reason why this particular prison is ran and conducted in the manner that it is. Now before I continue, I want to point out the geographical location of this institution, which is located to the far lower right-hand corner of the state, about 45 minutes away from the urban cities that I’ve mentioned. The correctional officers here most, if not all of them are from those same urban cities, and as a result of that, they bring with them urban city attitudes. They lack professional conduct, and to sum it up without speculation they largely contribute to the drug problem of this institution. So far I have been incarcerated for about 12 years and within those 12 years I’ve been to several different institutions and I’ve ran into many people I knew from the street, and I’ve ran into people who I knew from other prisons. I am from Philadelphia, born and raised in South Philadelphia, so when I would run into people from my city, at those different prisons which were far west, one of the things that they would always mention and talk about was this prison. Who was here, what was going on and happening here, and how cheap the drugs are here. Now, because I’ve been to several different prisons all as a result of bad behavior, this means that I’ve spent time in the hole with others who were also being shipped to other prisons and the conversation among them all was the exact same. There has not been one place that I did not overhear about somebody else’s desire to be sent to this particular prison. And they all are after the same things.

The drug problem here is real. I have seen people get caught red-handed with drugs and they would receive a misconduct-report/write-up. They would report to the designated place formally for a hearing before the hearing examiner who would review the misconduct report, and determine innocence or guilt and impose a sanction. Any kind of drug related misconduct is considered a class 1, which is the more serious grade, and normally results in being sanctioned to spend a certain amount of time in the hole. Drug related misconduct is highly likely to result in going to the hole for 30-60 days. It is considered to be so serious elsewhere that if you are caught with it, you go to the hole immediately, having your hearing while already in the hole. The same applies for the drug user, who fails a urine-test. You are taken to the hole the minute the results show, and you have your hearing while already in the hole, which is highly likely to result in a 30-60 day sanction in the hole. But at this prison none of that happens. In both drug scenarios you first receive notice, which is a copy of the misconduct report. Two to three days later you will appear before the hearing examiner, and the worst case scenario is that you will be sanctioned to cell-restriction which basically means you are allowed one hour of morning yard, one shower afterward, at which point you are to go lock-in your cell for the rest of the day. No work, no phone calls, no day room, etc. You are prohibited from leaving your cell other than your 1 hour exercise in the morning, your 10 minute shower directly after, and any approved movement passes such as religious sessions, sick call etc. So in essence, it is a slap on the wrist for what is considered serious elsewhere. But it’s not that they don’t care, it’s more along the lines of, “There are so many people getting caught for drug related violations that there is simply no room in the hole for them” which is normally where everybody goes initially. It is important to understand because drug related violations are situations where once the violation is learned of, the person is taken to the hole right way and the hearing by the examiner is conducted at a later date while already confined in the hole. To receive a misconduct report/write-up that does not require immediate placement in the hole pending review by the hearing examiner would be something very petty along the lines of failing to stand for count in time. In essence, if the prison were to lock up everybody who got caught for drug related violations they would literally run out of space and would not have enough beds.

When I arrived here in November 2024, shortly after being released into general population here I learned the reason why while housed in the hole here that I was not permitted the normal allowable material that I not only received everywhere else previously, but what is also allowed by policy of the PA-DOC. According to that policy every prisoner is allowed basic material from their own property. It is limited to one 1 Record Center Box. These allowables consist of things such as “family photos”, religious material, writing material, leisure reading material, undergarments, and legal material. These are just a few things mentioned but they are allowed to each and every prisoner upon placement in the hole and policy clearly allows this material. But there was an incident here that involved a prisoner’s personal property and drugs. I personally do not know the details but as a result of that incident, all personal property of prisoners in the hole were to be stored at a particular designated place other than the unit where the hole is located. The policy allowing for the 1 Record Box limit of allowable property became non-existing and terminated and as a result any and every prisoner placed in the hole will not be permitted anything from their property. They will either be forced to buy undergarments and whatever else is available that is needed from commissary or do without.

The average male working here whether he is a staff or a corrections officer does not conduct himself as neither. But the average male working here as a staff member– nurse, counselor, chaplain, etc they have the same or similar outer image and attitude that the corrections officer has which is that of the urban thug or gangster. Some staff only appear the same, but display different actions. In other words, they do their job. The corrections officer on the other hand, does not have a professional conduct they simply appear to be who and or what they carry themselves to be, only here to collect a paycheck. It is as if they (the males) dislike or disagree with exactly what and who they actually are which is a corrections officer, law enforcement, oppressor, enemy etc. In the manner in which many of them conduct themselves their conduct and character suggest that they are not what they actually are. But this is not the case with each and every African American male working here at SCI Phoenix. There are some older African American and Spanish men working here who conduct themselves according to who and what they actually appear to be. There is only a small percentage of them which also explains the reason for why the prison is ran the way it is.

The prisoner here who has the money to buy what he wants, will get what he wants. Such talk and conversations are surely not common elsewhere, but here it’s so easy to find what is known as a horse. So easy in fact, that SCI Phoenix has the worst drug problem in the state of Pennsylvania among the state-prison systems institutions which I believe is 14-15 prisons total, but I am not sure as to the count. For the drug suboxone to be as addictive as it is, there is a program in place for those who qualify. But as a result of that whole situation suboxone became more accessible because people in the program began to deviate, making suboxone more available to those who want it. They no longer have to wait for the black market. They can simply get suboxone from a program participant which will likely be not only easier but also cheaper. So in the end the program is working against the population. Eventually the majority of the Pennsylvania state prison population will find themselves restricted to only video visitation due to some kind of drug-related violation, which ultimately was the reason their contact visitation privileges were terminated. When I came to prison in 2013 visits were common and very frequent. The visiting room would sometimes be at its capacity especially on weekends. But it surely is not the same today and I believe it’s because most of us are currently under a restriction or sanction due to a drug-related violation of some kind. The first violation is six months, the second violation is one year, and the third violation is permanent restriction and termination of your contact visitation privileges. Suboxone was popular in its usage long before the actual suboxone program started in prisons across the country. Many prisoners were already using the drug unprescribed while in prison, and what about all the opioid users who did not fit the criteria for the new program? It just seems that it did more harm than good for the overall prison population. But of course this is only my personal opinion.