NEWS: Smoking bans spread to prisons

One more place added to the ever growing list of places you can't light up. Inmates in federal prisons are not going to be happy, as Federal Bureau of Prisons institutes a near total ban on smoking.



Okay, I can understand the no smoking rule in public places, like, eating establishments, concerts, state and government buildings, but prisons. I don't really get this one.

I'm a non-smoker, I don't like it and don't like the second hand smoke, but I'm not sure that I agree with inmates not being allowed to smoke if they want.

I say take away the wieghts and cable tv, but give'em smokes.

[edit on 22-7-2004 by John bull 1]

[edit on 22-7-2004 by John bull 1]

Intresting, I did a bit of time, there was no smoking ban in prisons in Indiana in 96. 8 years ago and know one even heard about it, crazy.

yeah.. it's crazy, I mean I'm a non smoker and don't even like this idea.. this is going to do nothing but cause trouble in the prisons.

You wait, they'll riot and fight over this one.

In the original news article, it said that the inmates were a little "testy" when they heard of this ....

am i suppose to care that felons in prison cant smoke? boohoo! cry me a river. they get cable, for free! i cant even get cable!

there are some smoking bans i can agree with. the ones i agree with completely are the ones hospitals and companies put in place themselves. its their business and they can do that if they want. i dont think hospitals are the greatest place to be lighting one up. i understand these bans. the ones i dont like are the ones forcing businesses to ban their own customers from smoking against their will.


what i dont understand is why felons are allowed to have cable, be able to smoke etc. they should be doing one of two things, cleaning up the sides of roads or breaking big rocks into little rocks. thats all the exercise they need. as i heard a long time ago "if you got time to lean you got time to clean" give them rags and sponges and let them clean the prison from top to bottom.

teach them to break their bad habits and also teach them good habits. smoking like a lot of other things in this world is not a right it is a priviledge and i dont think felons should be allowed to smoke. there is a reason why its called punishment.

does anyone need to be reminded prison isnt for having fun? its suppose to be harsh, so harsh that something in the back of your head says "hey moron! you know we could have been out there in the free world smoking if hwe hadnt knocked off that liquor store and got a job instead!" so yeah no surprise they arent happy. sucks to be them, maybe they'll think twice before commiting another felony.

[edit on 22-7-2004 by ThePrankMonkey]

I've never been to prison, but I've been to several county and city jails. There was no smoking in any of them. It's been that way for at least ten years. I had no idea prisons weren't included.
These smoking bans are pissing me off! Soon, anyone who can't quit, or doesn't want to quit smoking will be a new class of criminal. Prisoners who are smokers are bound to have more time added to their sentence when they're caught. My guess is, it'll be a pathetic failure. There's no way they'll be able to enforce it in prison.

Not everyone in prison is a hardened criminal who deserves to be tortured, Prank Monkey. Actually, if you believe in rehab, no one should be tortured. Forcing someone to quit cold turkey is definitely torture.

[edit on 22-7-2004 by Damned]

Maybe the FEDS give the inmates cable. I dont know of any state prison that gives cable.

Inmates work hard, everyday. What about the stupid WAR on DRUGS and all the people that are doing time for pot.

The Powhatan facility in Virginia is already a snakepit. No a/c or real ventillation so tempers already flare from the heat. Personality conflicts. Violent people crammed in with non-violents. And now no smokes? Smoking is harmful, true. Smoking can cause and complicate many diseases, true. But I wouldn't want a prison full of inmates and guards who can't light up if they want to.

And they don't all have cable tv. In there they have to buy a little tv/radio type thing. Prisons aren't the country clubs everybody thinks they are. You have to give them something to do or else you'll REALLY have riots. I mean, these places are supposed to be for encouraging rehabilitation, right? So providing healthy activities like exercise and library privledges are good things. I say, smoke 'em if ya got 'em.

Smoking will continue but it will create a blackmarket. It will be much more expensive, especially if you get caught.

This will only cause problems within the prison system and will surely cause riots.

In Oz, the common currency in prison is tobacco (mainly whiteox) and is traded for many things.

As an example, if someone wanted someone "taken care off", a packet of whiteox given to someone serving a life sentence would normally do the job - it's not as if the person serving a life sentence can have any more years to his sentence...

Don't know what they'd use for currency if tobacco is taken away...I would say it would get down to "the threat of death or injury" if you didn't do something...

...and that is going to cause a heel of a lot more problems in the prisons (esp. maximum security).

Cheers

JS

I have a family member in a Texas state prison. Seems he was hooked on coc aine and got caught with a gram for the second time. Well the judge in his wisdom, instead of sending him to a rehab program, gave him 12 years instead. His release date if he is a perfect prisoner is 12/2007. The prison is over 400 miles / 750 kilometers away. My sister can only afford to visit every month or so.

Because of the job he was assigned he must work 7 days a week about 8 to 12 hours a day with no pay to be a trusty. If he doesn't want to work every day then he can work 5 days a week in the hoe squad chopping weeds but then they would take away his class level and some of his good time credits resulting in his release date being put off a year or so.

There is no cable TV.

There is no air conditioning for Texas prisoners even though the temperture where he is can reach 110 degrees F in the heart of summer. They are housed in metal and concrete with only a few fans to circulate air and no windows that open in the newer units. The inmates that are lucky enough to have money sent to them by family members can afford to buy a personal 7 inch fan at a cost of about 30 dollars or so when it should cost one forth of that price. The inmates with no family to send them money do without, remember they dont pay you for working in Texas, not even a nickel a day. Some transfer units he was at for several months as he waited to get to his assigned prison didn't allow fans at all.

There is no smoking. There is also a big black market for tobacco products. Prisoners are paying 20 or 30 dollars or more for a pack of tobacco and rolling papers, then they are selling thin cigarettes for about five dollars each.

The reason the state gives for taking their cigarettes is increased health care cost and suits brought forth by inmates that claim the second hand smoke was hurting their health. The state of Texas' prison system health care is controlled by two HMO policys the largest being the UTMB policy that effects over 100,000 of the states 150,000 plus prison population.

That's right people, over 150,000 prisoners are locked up here out of a total state population of maybe 21 or 22 million.

I see the reasons for taking away the cigarettes in federal prisons. It's about cost of health care and suits by non smoking prisoners claiming second hand smoke. What I can't see is how some of you here think prison is all about laying up in the AC and watching cable all day. I can assure that at least in this backward prison system in Texas it is not that way at ALL.

Here is a good reason to take away smokes in prison. They don't deserve them. How hard is it to live your life without doing something so wrong that you get sent to prison. I'm sure most of the prisoners are there by mistake! I think a prison should be setup to make their lives so miserable that they wouldn't want to ever go back, therefore they might think twice before they do something they know will get them sent to prison again.

I am not saying I never did anything wrong or illegal in my life, but I am saying that if I would have gotten caught it would be my own fault and I damn sure wouldn't do it again.

Prison guards don't want to beathe second hand smoke either. Maybe the ban will help them kick the habbit.

Texasconspiracynut...


I understand what you are saying, maybe in Texas the prisons are a little "tougher", but people that I have known and stories I have heard and even reports on TV... Prisoners are well kept in mosts instances.

Air Conditioning, TV and in some cases Cable TV, Weights, Basketball, even on case of bowling... lets' see what else..

Oh yeah.... what about computers and the internet... !!!

Here is a good reason to take away smokes in prison. They don't deserve them.

How does anyone "deserve" a cigarette? lol

I don't smoke cigs but I do smoke cigars and weed. I can see the harms in any form of smoking and I can agree with those who feel it is a risk for second-hand smokers, but I can't see the purpose behind banning them in a prison. These people are doing time for something that may be a one-way ticket or a chance for parol...they may have too many liberties in a place that is meant to be deprived of your rights....but there are some things in this life that are habits that you can't stop, especially while in an uncomfortable situation.

I think TV should be taken away! Give them newspapers, teach them to read, do productive things for their mind instead of getting more fit for their release date so they can be a more opposing threat than they were before they got in....but I see no reason to take away something that is a driving force within their minds and bodies to do as a natural habit. Let the freaks on death row get lung cancer and rot away....let them soothe their nerves on a rare occasion by lighting one up.

It seems as though prisons would have been the first to establish this anyways....but instead it gets inforced in bars and restuarants first? Not that I disaprove...I enjoy eating a meal without smelling the smoking section anymore, but why were the free public "punished" before the incarcerated prisoners?

It seems more like a politcal statement and a front. They're trying to make the prison system appear like it actually has a concern for the health of their inmates, probablly to get more funding. Either that, or they really do care, which just makes my heart go a pitta-patta

How in the world would it be possible for prisoners to have internet access? Work related like VOIP telemarketing? Who knows.

They dont have that here. When you think about it how would the guards control the prisoners internet access? The prisoners could do all kinds of things even if they were being watched.

And yes you're right, it is a lot tougher here! You also dont have to be a bad person to go to prison here, just have a drug problem. The state doesn't beleive in spending money on rehabs. They are talking about maybe building more prisons though. About ten years ago they spent a few billion and added about 100,000 more beds.

....but there are some things in this life that are habits that you can't stop,

Oh really!! Did they start these bad habits like smoking or drugs when they were 2 months old? I smoked a pack a day for 10 years and stopped immediately the day I was flown to my basic training station for the Army. I started the "habit" again when I graduated and quit another time when my wife was pregnant because she had to quit as well for the baby. What I was meaning was that if you are in prison you should be stripped of things like that. Why should they be comfortable while serving time for doing something wrong?

Well our prisoners are edgy because they can't smoke...poor things. Maybe when they get out they can start smoking again and straighten their lives out so they don't ever lose things like that again.

I was just speaking in a general sense - if everyone could quit they would not be smoking....

Like I said....I don't really think they should be allowed any pagentry or pampering, but I fail to see the true reason for doing this....if they care so much for the inamtes health, then why don't they just let them go, b/c I'm sure some inamtes are getting more mental damage being locked up then they are getting physical damage from smokine - sarcacism intentional here...

I don't smoke and I've never even been in jail, but I think some things should be controlled and others should be allowed - to me, I see it as an ebb and flow that keeps some kind of order in a place filled with disorderly people...

If you want to see where this country is headed regarding morality laws on smoking and drinking look at 1930's German "purity" efforts. The ban in prisons has NOTHING to do with punishing prisoners, it's just part of the entire ban on Federal buildings, and social reform to outlaw "evil" in all public places.

Historians and epidemiologists have only recently begun to explore the Nazi anti-tobacco movement. Germany had the world's strongest anti smoking movement in the 1930s and early 1940s,encompassing bans on smoking in public spaces, bans on advertising,restrictions on tobacco rations for women, and the world's most refined tobacco epidemiology, linking tobacco use with the already evident epidemic of lung cancer. The anti-tobacco campaign must be understood against the backdrop of the Nazi quest for racial and bodily purity, which also motivated many other public health efforts of the era.

The Nazi War on Cancer

Alkohol und Nikotin


It's your DUTY!

People like to think the ACLU is dangerous, but I'll gladly take the flames for citing the two most truly dangerous, fascist organizations in the US operating with unlimited effectiveness, resources and under the unquestioned guise of the "public interest"...

The American Cancer Society and Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

Looooong before anyone takes away your gun and ability to shoot your neighbor, your right to kill yourself slowly getting snockered drunk and firing up will be a thing of the past.

People go so out of their way to draw parallels to Fascism on gun control, or euthanasia or abortion....they just skip right over the obvious Fascism they all support and already took root successfully in the land of lost liberty.

And don't get me started on the War on Drugs. That's Fascism 101.

Ack! I need a cigarette.

Rants points are extremely valid. CHOICE is being taken away from people. The point is moot to, as far as inmates smoking is concerned. They have their ways of getting things, so smoking will still happen.

Is there a no smoking ban on prisoners on Death Row? to look after their health?
Sorry couldn't help myself, it seems so stupid...........