=> Vox Populi ©
2004-07-26 20:06:15 UTC
USA Today: Smoking Bans Spread to Prisons [07/23-6]
By Gregg Zoroya USA TODAY [07/21/04]
The last sanctuary for smokers in government buildings has always been the worst
place to be prison. But those institutions are fast becoming smoke-free, to
the anguish of nicotine-addicted prisoners and guards.
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Prisons became the latest to join the
no-smoking movement by instituting a near-total ban on lighted tobacco in 105
prisons holding 180,000 inmates.
At least 38 of 50 state correctional departments report that they are either
smoke-free or have partial smoking bans, according to a 2002 survey conducted by
the American Correctional Association, a professional trade organization. And
more states keep joining the list.
Some states, such as Delaware, allow other tobacco products, like snuff or chew.
Others, such as Florida, allow inmates to smoke in designated areas outside.
Over the past 10 years, prisons and jails have moved toward banning tobacco
products out of concerns about the health hazard of secondhand smoke. In
addition, a string of court opinions, including a 1993 Supreme Court ruling,
have supported inmate claims that being held in a smoke-filled prison may
constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
States have moved at different speeds and with varying success to restrict or
ban tobacco. Concerns that inmates would turn violent if they couldn't smoke
have so far been unfounded.
Inmates are like a lot of people," DeLano says, "if you tell them in advance
what's going to happen, they grumble and complain a little bit. And then they
kind of get on with it and manage the change."
In some prisons where smoking has been banned, tobacco has become the
black-market favorite, quickly outpacing narcotics in sales.
"It's ultimately going to be the national norm," says Horn, who instituted
limited smoking restrictions in 1995 when he ran Pennsylvania's prisons. "It's
the smart thing to do. It's the right thing to do."
Even so, the growing tobacco black market has raised some concerns.
In Colorado, where the state's nearly 20,000 prisoners were barred from
smoking in 1999 prison employees were barred a year later the price of a
smuggled cigarette is now $10, says Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the Colorado
Department of Corrections.
Reginald Wilkinson, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction, which has 32 prisons and nearly 44,000 prisoners, says black-market
tobacco doesn't replace the demand for marijuana and other drugs; it only adds
to the list of contraband.
Ohio has moved slowly on banning tobacco. Some institutions provide
alternative housing for non-smoking inmates. New prisons must be smoke-free. But
the vast majority of state inmates still live in prisons where smoking is
allowed.
In 1994, Texas became one of the first states to ban smoking. Last year, the
state cracked down on smuggling by making it a felony to provide tobacco to
inmates.
State Rep. Terri Hodge of Dallas, a smoker who proposed the new law, says it was
necessary to stop the growing black market.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, in making its facilities smoke-free last week,
tried to ease the change by offering smoking-cessation programs to prisoners and
inmates, along with a supply of nicotine patches. Inmates must pay for their
patches. The guards may get them for free.
The federal correctional employees union fought the smoking ban by arguing that
prison guards working long shifts in locked-down facilities would not have the
luxury of stepping outside for a smoke.
The union took its demands for indoor smoking areas to a binding arbitration
panel in 2001 and lost.
By Gregg Zoroya USA TODAY [07/21/04]
The last sanctuary for smokers in government buildings has always been the worst
place to be prison. But those institutions are fast becoming smoke-free, to
the anguish of nicotine-addicted prisoners and guards.
Last week, the Federal Bureau of Prisons became the latest to join the
no-smoking movement by instituting a near-total ban on lighted tobacco in 105
prisons holding 180,000 inmates.
At least 38 of 50 state correctional departments report that they are either
smoke-free or have partial smoking bans, according to a 2002 survey conducted by
the American Correctional Association, a professional trade organization. And
more states keep joining the list.
Some states, such as Delaware, allow other tobacco products, like snuff or chew.
Others, such as Florida, allow inmates to smoke in designated areas outside.
Over the past 10 years, prisons and jails have moved toward banning tobacco
products out of concerns about the health hazard of secondhand smoke. In
addition, a string of court opinions, including a 1993 Supreme Court ruling,
have supported inmate claims that being held in a smoke-filled prison may
constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
States have moved at different speeds and with varying success to restrict or
ban tobacco. Concerns that inmates would turn violent if they couldn't smoke
have so far been unfounded.
Inmates are like a lot of people," DeLano says, "if you tell them in advance
what's going to happen, they grumble and complain a little bit. And then they
kind of get on with it and manage the change."
In some prisons where smoking has been banned, tobacco has become the
black-market favorite, quickly outpacing narcotics in sales.
"It's ultimately going to be the national norm," says Horn, who instituted
limited smoking restrictions in 1995 when he ran Pennsylvania's prisons. "It's
the smart thing to do. It's the right thing to do."
Even so, the growing tobacco black market has raised some concerns.
In Colorado, where the state's nearly 20,000 prisoners were barred from
smoking in 1999 prison employees were barred a year later the price of a
smuggled cigarette is now $10, says Alison Morgan, spokeswoman for the Colorado
Department of Corrections.
Reginald Wilkinson, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and
Correction, which has 32 prisons and nearly 44,000 prisoners, says black-market
tobacco doesn't replace the demand for marijuana and other drugs; it only adds
to the list of contraband.
Ohio has moved slowly on banning tobacco. Some institutions provide
alternative housing for non-smoking inmates. New prisons must be smoke-free. But
the vast majority of state inmates still live in prisons where smoking is
allowed.
In 1994, Texas became one of the first states to ban smoking. Last year, the
state cracked down on smuggling by making it a felony to provide tobacco to
inmates.
State Rep. Terri Hodge of Dallas, a smoker who proposed the new law, says it was
necessary to stop the growing black market.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, in making its facilities smoke-free last week,
tried to ease the change by offering smoking-cessation programs to prisoners and
inmates, along with a supply of nicotine patches. Inmates must pay for their
patches. The guards may get them for free.
The federal correctional employees union fought the smoking ban by arguing that
prison guards working long shifts in locked-down facilities would not have the
luxury of stepping outside for a smoke.
The union took its demands for indoor smoking areas to a binding arbitration
panel in 2001 and lost.