Drug test results concern Ohio prison officials

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Ohio prison officials say they are concerned with the relatively high percentage of inmates who tested positive for drugs recently.

An annual test in October by the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction found 3.32 percent testing positive for drugs -- including marijuana, opiates, cocaine and alcohol.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that the rate is nearly twice as high in 2011 when 1.74 percent of those tested had drugs in their system. And it's the highest since the state began random drug testing of inmates in the early 1990s.

A total of 6,828 inmates in 28 prisons in the state system were tested, with 227 testing positive.

Officials say most of the drugs are come in over walls and fences, tossed into prison yards from the outside.

To read the full Columbus Dispatch story, go to http://bit.ly/UzQaFv .