Drugs, Bribery & Violence: The Secret Prison Economy | Life Inside
The UK prison system has a rich and thriving black market, with its own micro-economy based on tinned fish. Drugs, food, iPhones, and games consoles are everywhere - if you know where to look (and who to ask). VICE speaks to former prisoner and filmmaker Chris Atkins, author of ‘Time After Time’ and ‘A Bit of a Stretch’, about how prisoners get contraband and chicken stew inside their cells.
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I started doing drugs since my teenage, got addicted to crack. Spent my whole life fighting Crack addiction. Also suffered severe depression and mental disorder. Not until my wife recommended me to psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment saved my life honestly. 8 years totally clean. This is something that really need to be use globally to help people with related health challenges.
Amen God bless people. Save your health save your mind. Life is better without heroin, cocaine, alcohol and cigarettes. And you have more money in your pocket. God bless everyone who has rejected the devils intentions to be addicted to alcohol and cigarettes etc which can cause so much damage to health.
Can you help me with the reliable source 🙏. I'm 56 and have suffered for years with addiction, anxiety and severe ptsd, I got my panic attacks under control myself years ago and they have come back with a vengeance, I'm constantly trying to take full breaths but can't get the full satisfying breath out, it's absolutely crippling me, i live in Australia. I don't know much about these mushrooms. Really need a reliable source!! Can't wait to get them.
YES very sure of Dr.benshrooms. I have the same experience with anxiety, depression, PTSD and addiction and Mushrooms definitely made a huge huge difference to why am clean today.
I'm really happy for you that your wife decided to help you...I hear about alot of family members or so called friends shutting an addict out of their life, which since most addicts do it to mask emotions to me is the worse thing someone can do to an addict.
How do I reach out to him? Is he on insta
matt hancock looks like he's been through a lot since im a celeb
I couldn't figure out why the guy seemed familiar 😂
Beat me to it lmfao
nailed it lmao🤣
😂😂😂
My cousin before he got deported back to the Philippines was a big hustler out here in LA and of course in and out of prison. I use to ask him like why wasn’t he scared about going back to prison. And basically he told me every time he went to prison, he had friends already there, since he was a hustler who liked to share all his “earnings” he was well liked by everyone. He told me he would do things like get close with a female guard to smuggle in things like cigarettes and he would just give the cigs to everyone in his cell block or when he was out in the yard. So he said he always felt like Robin Hood just coming back to his people when he would go back to prison. My cousin could have honestly been some huge business tycoon but he came to the US as a teen, with an accent, and bullied everyday. So where do you turn to in those situations when you live in LA back in the 90s? You turn to the gangs who offered brotherhood and protection. My cousin is doin well tho, he got deported back to the Philippines where I hear he has turned over a new leaf and has a new family there. His two sons here are grown and doin amazing things with their lives. But yeah long story short, prison is tough and scary for a lot of people, but the flip side of that is the prison system is not doin enough to change lives for the better. My cousin should have done more to learn from his bad decisions in life, there’s no doubt about that. Regardless of that, these privatized prison industries just need to be abolished
Or maybe he just liked boys
i ended up fake smoking spice for like 2 years in florida prison because its safer to be a junkie then it is just a normal non gang affiliated criminal lol. cost me a bit but boy did it make time easy
@@theacgkid hes getting something for it if ye know what i mean 🤣
Let him know he can get back here easily. He sounds like he has some bread. Even the peoples in poverty are coming. He from La he deff knows the same people swim knows that can get him back in the USA. Messed up he had to leave smh, let’s get cuz back Bro. You have what’sapp?
@@Bando-fx4mfboi you swear you gon get him back through a yt comment section 😂
Letting murderer work on your back is wild.
I was looking for this comment.
Yeah, that's pretty iffy
My father was a murderer he's dead now, he was actually a decent guy some times "murder" happens and it the courts don't accept self defence.
Just to say I loved your first book so much. Listened to the audiobook and you reading it was just fantastic. You have a wonderful narration style. Looking forward to your second is going to be my holiday book!
Just listened to Chris’s audiobook “a bit of a stretch”…I highly recommend it!
I’ve got stories like this for DAYS
“He sorted out the knots in my back“ is crazy
Spice is a huge problem in prisons and very deadly. There should be a documentary on the amount of deaths in the US prison system that are covered up as medical or self inflicted when in reality their deaths could have been prevented if not by negligence and lack of humanity.
Chris Atkins: masterclass in doing time
i bet his little nickname in jail was "snitchy"
Was thinking the exact same and iv done time in 2 English prisons this guy definitely got protected by the screws he's got too much of a big mouth
This guy definitely got taxed like crazy
u know it 😂😂😂
Pretty much everyone does in prison unless theyre bringing it in
@@AquaticGems spoken like someone who hasn't done much if any time.
In america yu gtta pay to play or split a percentage with the guard coming in@@RoCkShaDoWWaLkEr
@@RoCkShaDoWWaLkEr I'd guess that people with cash coming in who are willing to trade food tins and tobacco on the regular would probably be worth leaving alone for the steady income. I'd assume he may have also paid other people for protection.
Some of them prisoners are living better than i aaam on the outside!😂
Of course.
Try putting a mattress in your bathroom and staying there for 20 hours a day without a phone, tablet, or computer, with another man with you, and after a couple nights, let us know how much better jail is than the comfort of your home watching Vice.
Give me a computer, phone or TV and i could easily; stay in a bathroom sized area with a mattress, throw in food and someone to speak to, piss easy... drugs on top of that, now we're talking. @@citypopradioFM
@@citypopradioFMguess you didn’t watch the video ❤
This isn’t a reupload for the first time in the last couple weeks?
I like the kettle trick 👍
I never met such a high maintenance inmate b4😂
Prison in Connecticut wasn't bad at all. It had a real summer camp type vibe
Was is a female or male prison in Connecticut? I worked for Connecticuts department of corrections
Hope you're working on some new films Christopher 🤨👍
Do a documentary on Jefferson county Ohio
When he started talking about tuna it took me back to boarding school days lol
Plot twist: It's the guards and prison contractors bringing it in.
That’s not a twist when the guys already said that in the video
I’m a tattoo artist, and a barber. Generally an artist overall. I have had a few people tell me that I’d be well off in jail because of my traits. I AM WELL OFF AT HOME BRUH, WUT.
Damn thats some prison dunn sign ME 👆 nah just playing😅
When I was In prison, I saw more drugs in thier than on the outside! And this is coming from an ex ice addict and opiates addict!
Sad truth about prison iv known people wanting to go inside just to sell and earn triple if not more than street price
I worked in prison system in nc for 4 years youd be surprised how easy it is to get touch screen phones and drugs. But no way you could have a canned anything cause they would use it for cutting people open in a fight.
Where is nc though?
@@oneoflokis North Carolina I imagine.
@@johnny8030 So that would be the US, as I thought.
Very good point bro. Sounds very 🐠y this interview.
@@bensjamming8310 This guy is from the UK.
What a wonderful existence.
🔥🔥🔥
He got Butt Plugged for a pack of cigarettes 🤣🤣
Very true..There were plenty of times we didnt have tobacco but not once was there ever a time i couldn't get dope in prison
That's because it's cut 1 ounce alone goes along way in prison do if a person has 4 they can turn tht to 16
after seeing this documentary I realise where 17% of youtube comments be coming from.
What do you mean by this? Lol
4G?! Why did I think prisons had wifi?
Tolong cari tau tentang narkoba sinte bung
this guy knows hardly anything about prison
Spice is worth 2-2.5 on a prison wing? But cash is useless? 2,000-2,500 cans of tuna?
Cash ain't useless lol you just ring the guys people get the money sent to a bank account over the phone, phone in ya cell ya can sit in ya cell on the phone to your bank 😂
this guy has a audiobook on audible
Really? Thanks for the tip!
(And I've also noticed that one of his audio books comes free on there, with your audible membership. 🙂🙂)
Its also often😊 on the libby app available free via your local library
Crunch crunch
I already knew what country this was by looking at this dudes teeth in the thumbnail
Be nice!
@@theacgkid America has way worse dental health google it. reason why this stereotype exists is because during ww2 when the American solders finally came to help us after refusing for a long time to get involved. we got heavily bombed by the Germans. The soldiers came back to the states saying how bad our teeth was and our food. this is because we were on rations, no money and the kids had no access to dental or healthcare. whitening and straightening your teeth doesn't mean you got no stinky gums. at least we got free healthcare and if I had cancer I wouldn't have to become a meth manufacturer to fund it lol. both our countries are f'ed at the moment. don't throw stones when you live in glass house's
American's are just English people who went to America.. so you're the same!! 😂 Plus they have more free healthcare and dentalcare then you. We have the same teeth, eyes, hair etc don't be dumb
Its a city within a city within a state.You just have to have MONEY
I used to sell Heroin in Prison for only about 16 years tho
What did u do to get 16 years?
@@RiccardoPerospado-um2tbprobably selling Heroin. In the U.S they throw the absolute book at you for Drug distribution.
Ah well if it was only 16 years you're grand
A bunch of stupid stuff , from burglaries , robberies and heists mostly . I can’t believe I did 16 years in prisons and can’t believe I’m out and retired from a life of crime !
@@pavlestanimirovic no wonder your picture is the pink panther. Bet You walked real quiet on your toes when you used to break in during a burglary. Quiet as a mouse pissin on cotton that Pavlestani Mirovic was! Those were the old days though! Onwards!
"Spoice"
With cash app and those apps being out don’t get me wrong yeah, food is currency but the smart ones have the money sent home especially when you’re well off you end up having so much food you don’t know what to do with it
Man paid his way through all his sentence😂 more money than bollocks LuL
Sooooo you're saying prison is not the spot to be at? 🤔🙃
This nerd just telling on everyone?!
There are plenty of prison memoirs!
Like a every jail....
Prison is about survival. You can get any drug that you want in there if, you fit in with the right ones.
Just like an American prison except we don't get no PlayStations and nothing like that and instead of tuna it'd be Top Ramen as the currency
“In British jails…” like they’re the roughest jails because they stay locked down. 😂😂
More likely to die in a UK prison than you are a US prison, and that's a fact.
bodybuilders love tuna not because of how it tastes & a lot of guys spend their time in prison trying to get as big as they can because you get a lot of time to rest which you normally wouldn't get on the outside
O sistema é podre no mundo inteiro....o que acontece nessa prisão acontece em todas as outras do planeta....sem novidades......
Tuna lol in USA we have moved into the future everything is cash app or venmo 😂
Even in jail? 🙂
@@oneoflokis i posted premature I thought he was saying people pay for drugs with tuna. My experience was in new York cigarettes are allowed so they are currency for service haircuts etc but the drug games take place on phone I watch people drive their family crazy to get money for drugs every lie telling mom they are in danger etc if you don't cash app this money to do so so I'm going get hurt and it's all to get high
@@oneoflokis not surprised really as America the land of the free has the highest incarceration rate in the world. more contacts, bigger prisons, easier to do
Well i guess things are very different across the pond. In just about every RURAL American town you should be able to get dope within a few days ( if you dont know anyone there). And in EVERY American city, you can get some in a few hours by standing around local gas stations or hangout. And thats only if you don't know anyone. Its sad , but thats probably the best argument for full legalization of drugs. At least the quality and quantity will become a known entity, and that will absolutely significantly cut down overdoses
Only a white collar guy would say drugs are easier to get in prison. 😂
How many tins of tuna for a baloney sammie
They need to make changes and remove the corrupt correction officers and hire enough officers. And most importantly rehabilitate the inmate's so they don't come back
so this is 1 person
Ya paid to get ya washing done 😂 whoppa
The fact that we get free videos on KZhead by VICE is truly a gift.., keeping the education and knowledge alive. 👏👏👏
Who abuses pregablin or gabapentin?! Lmao, what are you trying to do, take a nap and calm your restless leg syndrome?
@@umpin3 lol, that’s interesting to hear… never did anything like that for me- and I was prescribed a ton of it for years due to nerve issues. I guess mixing it with alcohol does something different? All it ever did for me was dry my mouth out, lol Good to know- thanks for that info 😂
I actually take Gabapentin and it does make you sleepier than usual, but you build a tolerance to it over time. I really should not be on it anymore because I know the long term effects are terrible, but yeah it’s not something I could imagine abusing.
Pregablin for me throws my balance completely off. I can’t walk on it and randomly just fall over. No euphoria though and it happens to be quite expensive in the UK
@@mason96575both are good but some people don’t get euphoria from them. Like 1200mg pregabalin combined with oxycontin or morphine is common combination.
Kinda wanna go to prison in London now😂
Is vice just reposting old videos now?
Vice is trash.
Prison is not like he is implying you have to make a bong out of a apple. Outside you can have a triple chamber for cash. I am on a suspended sentence for fighting and have a good background in education I honestly fear the place and if I offended again I have a one way ticket to jail.
Better learn how to make paper machete knives and or shanks.
@@ryshellso526 why is that? 🤣
Hooch aint a myth, but remember to burp it lol
HOMEBOY WENT TO PRISNEYLAND NOT PRISON LOL, alot diff in America !
2:09 you spend the cash on corrupting COs make them smuggle things like an xbox into the prison cash is king
Prison is a world inside of a world 🐸🍺🔪🔥
"meh" this guy is super invested in having a story to tell, pretty weak account to be honest. Subtext for instance won't get you high, buprenorphine is a partial opioid agonist, is actually prevents you from getting high and helps prevent overdose, hence why it is hard to get people addicted to opioids to take it. Maybe if you were completely opioid naive, you might get a small buzz. He's not only not very believable but also pretty annoying, also, why was he in prison? I usually love VICE docs. This was weak sauce: I wouldn't trade one can of tune to watch this.
He has all the free time in the world and yet he doesn't have time to do his own laundry. Man it must've sucked being his cellie. He had more then enough for excess canteen and luxury items inside too. Sketchy ass person is what I'm getting from this guy.
Limmy was right all along!
Drugs are easier to get in jail They are on the road
He was butt out for a pack of smokes.
This whole story made me laugh, this sounds like a juvenile camp in the U.S what a joke
.
Ive been to prison in the usa multiple times (never federal) and never saw a single game console lol everything else is true af though.
This is the UK.
Smuggle in rolling papers and tobacco. Canned tuna 😂 No tobacco pouch of top or whatever and rolling papers you food. .y advice. Canned tuna this guys butt would be for sale 😢 im joking 😊
Dont think he realizes how hateable he is
Lost me at White Collar crime, I'm a lag but better than ODC.. Mheh..Still a Lag.
Northern jails aren't that bad 😂
This dude doesn't have a clue😂cause he has afew packets of amberleaf 🤥
Who gives a fuk about a Playstation? LOL😁
Fucking british accent , i cant get it so fast..
Europe is a cakewalk compared to America
Why can't everyone in prison have a flat screen TV and/or a Playstation? 🙂 They're not that expensive! Even in the USA, prisoners are allowed to buy their own TVs...
The good ol story of the “haves” vs the “have nots”. Thats why
This is boring. What exactly is the point ?
BLSNGS
Quit dry snitching on the homies bro. You’re on the “outs” now. You’re entirely out of pocket dropping these dimes on the floor.
I smell a rat
FREE TATE
Pregabalin is not a painkiller just saying
Is it really a secret?? 🙄🙄
Absolutely true 100%... I don't think I would've paid a prisoner to rub my back though.. I seen that from a massage therapist in jail and within a couple days, in the country even before prison, that boy had himself a couple... Well boys... Pain over pride anyway any day!
Fake news
i think you're full of it and trying to make money off of you're lame exaggerations. i've done more than my fair share of time in state and federal prisons so believe me, i know the deal with prisons and drugs. my cellie in my last stint in federal prison was from kent england, (a wild coincidence because part of my family long ago is from wortham), and had been in a uk prison. he said drugs were more common in uk prisons but they are not near as abundant as you claim especially from the prison medical dept. like in the u.s. they just don't hand you drugs. you stand in a line take the pills and have to let a guard check your mouth. things like tylenol are given in blister packs but never anything you can get high on. in prisons things like methadone and subutex come in liquid form. you're not going to slide that in your pocket.
This is old subby ain't been pills 4 years