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| Smoking bans spread to federal prisons |
| By USA TODAY |
| Published: 07/26/2004 |
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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. In some prisons where smoking has been banned, tobacco has become the black-market favorite, quickly outpacing narcotics in sales. 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. The panel said employees could smoke in guard towers and prison vehicles, but only if they were alone. |
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