The N.C. House last week tentatively approved a smoking ban inside all North Carolina prison buildings as health care concerns won out over questions of security and freedom behind bars.
Superintendents in at least 51 of the state's 76 prisons already bar indoor smoking by prisoners and Correction Department employees. The remaining prisons would have to prohibit smoking by Jan. 1 if the bill becomes law.
The bill, which gained tentative House approval by a 58-52 vote, also orders the department to ban smoking completely in at least one prison as a pilot project. The state would provide optional smoking cessation programs to staff and prisoners.
Health care within the Division of Prisons cost $138 million for inmate health for the fiscal year that ended June 30, not including dental and mental health services.
Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, the House's chief proponent of the Senate bill, said it makes sense to bar cigarettes because of their inherent health risks. Many public buildings restrict smoking in some forms.
Several legislators questioned whether the smoking ban would lead to more unruly prisoners suffering from nicotine withdrawal. Cigarettes will be treated like contraband, said Rep. Phil Haire, D-Jackson.
"We're going to set up a new illegal trading system in the prisons," Haire said. He said allowing prison officials to take away a prisoner's good-behavior credits for smoking also doesn't make sense.
Others said convicted felons already have their freedoms restricted.
Prisoners with religious beliefs involving smoking -some American Indians, for example - still would be allowed to smoke inside.