syndromes, particularly alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal, in some cases also opiate withdrawal, can become life‑threatening so that intensive care treatment is needed. If the health‑care team in prison is not adequately experienced and/or equipped to treat such cases, timely transfer to an appro‑ priate hospital unit must be arranged; otherwise the prisoner’s human right to adequate treatment is violated.9 In this regard it should be remembered that state‑of‑the‑art treatment of opiate withdrawal is opioid‑supported detoxifcation and “cold withdrawal” – withdrawal without adequate medical support – must be regarded as ill‑treatment. The medical emergency box of the prison health‑care team should be adequately equipped and should, in addition to general resuscitation equipment, contain also naloxone and detoxifcation drugs. Vulnerability Drug‑dependent ofenders belong to the group of vulnerable prisoners because they rank low in the prisoners’ hierarchy and face prejudice both from inmates and from less educated staf. Staf must be educated that substance dependence is not a failure of will or strength of character but a chronic medical disorder often associated with other mental disorders. The addictive and drug‑seeking behaviour of substance‑dependent ofenders makes them easy victims of violence, coercive sex and other pressures, such as pressure to divert prescribed drugs in opiate‑substitution treatment. In trying to acquire drugs in prison they risk getting into debt, with the consequence of threats, bullying and violence. According to the CPT standards, one of the tasks of the health‑care professionals in prison is to provide humanitarian assistance, particu‑ larly to vulnerable prisoners,10 and the standards also include recommendations for protection and replacement under the safeguard of medical confdentiality. Harm‑reduction measures Evidence has shown that drug‑dependent ofenders continue their risky behav‑ iour in prison and, when harm‑reduction measures are not available in prison, they resume or even initiate behaviour that risks transmission of blood‑borne infections. Therefore, for epidemiological, medical and ethical reasons, harm reduction in prison is an indispensable requirement. The rationale, concepts 9. McGlinchey and others v. UK 50390/99. 10. The CPT Standards 2002 (rev. 2011). Psychoactive drugs and the medical management of drug‑addicted prisoners Page 75