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| State to ban smoking at all prisons |
| By ajc.com |
| Published: 11/10/2009 |
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The state Department of Corrections will ban all tobacco use at its 37 facilities by the end of next year, becoming the 11th state to implement a total withdrawal of smoking at its prisons. Corrections Commissioner Brian Owens told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday that the agency will begin a phase-out of tobacco use beginning Jan. 1. "It's 2010 in a few days and it's time to do the right thing," Owens said. Corrections' decision follows a similar one announced this week by the Department of Mental Health. But Mental Health has said it will implement a total smoking ban in all seven state mental hospitals on Jan. 5. The Department of Corrections is taking a staggered approach, Owens said. Beginning Jan. 1, smoking and tobacco use will be banned at two diagnostic facilities where inmates are evaluated after being transferred from county jails. Then, on July 1, 2010, the Augusta State Medical Prison — where the system's sickest inmates are housed — will go tobacco free, followed by a total tobacco ban in all state prisons beginning Dec. 1. Owens said he recently surveyed county sheriffs and jailers and found that almost all are already tobacco free. Inmates, Owens said, "were getting off tobacco in the county jails and then getting back on it when they came into the state system." Owens believes the phase-out of tobacco use at prisons, which will also apply to prison staff, will allow inmates to prepare and the department will offer cessation programs for those who want to participate. Read More. |
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