The finding of a Coroner’s jury that prison inmate Kino Outerbridge died of a heroin overdose while at Westgate Correctional Facility shines a light on a reality that few want to admit, and even fewer wish to tackle.The reality is that Bermuda’s prisons, where inmates should be rehabilitated and where the rule of law should be paramount, are hotbeds of illegal drug abuse. In and of itself, this is shocking. The fact that drugs are brought into the prison and are used in what is supposed to be a secure facility raises serious questions about the administration of the prisons.That an inmate should actually die from drug abuse is even worse. This newspaper has also reported, based on reliable sources, what many people have long believed; that the couriers of the drugs are the prison officers themselves. That helps to explain the relative ease with which the drugs are brought in. But it is an indictment of the service and its failure to get this under control.What it means is that prison officers, who are a supposedly disciplined body sworn to uphold and maintain the law are failing in their duty. Worse, and given that the inmates are presumably paying large amounts of money for drugs, it means that control of the prison no longer lies with the prison authorities, but with some corrupt officers and with the inmates themselves. This cannot be acceptable.If Bermuda is to have any hope of solving its crime problem, it must have control of its prisons. No wonder criminals seem to have little concern about going to prison. If rehabilitation is to work, the authorities must have control of its prisons. This cannot happen when drug abuse is widespread.Eleven years ago, Steven Mansfield (Pepe) Dill died of an asthma attack and his inquest revealed there was widespread drug use in the prisons. Eleven years later, very little seems to have been done to resolve the problem.It is important to note that not all prison officers are corrupt. There are many officers, both senior and junior, who are dedicated to their jobs. And there are inmates who emerge from prison with an education and equipped to follow productive lives.But if, as alleged, there are a significant number of officers who are bringing in drugs and other contraband, the system cannot work. And it is no surprise, in the circumstances, that recidivism remains stubbornly high. On that basis, the review of the prison that is now being undertaken by former UK prisons head Phil Wheatley has an added urgency.It has been said that Mr Wheatley has already seen things many prison officers would have preferred him not to have seen. And one must also assume that the record of the Outerbridge inquest is will be part of his study.Commissioner of Corrections Edward Lamb has given his full backing to the review, and that is welcome news. If all parties pull together, the prisons can be improved.Attorney General Sen Kim Wilson has stated that parts of the report may not be made public. As she said, where the findings pose a risk to public safety, that’s reasonable, but the test should be a strict one where publication of information would do actual harm, rather than cause embarrassment.