Complete Smoking Ban Coming to Federal Prisons
July 2, 2007
Stark Raven News

Federal prisons are going completely smoke free.

There has already been an indoor smoking ban that has been in place for the last year and a half. But the Correctional Service of Canada says that they haven’t been able to enforce this current ban on indoor smoking. So, they have just announced a total prison tobacco ban that will take effect on April 30, 2008.

Under the new restrictions, tobacco will be considered contraband. The penalty for being caught ranges from a warning and loss of privileges to a fine or up to 30 days in segregation.

Prisoners will get educational materials as well as smoking cessation drugs and patches for three months before the ban takes effect. But as soon as the ban comes into effect, they are on their own. As of May 2008, they will have to pay for their own items to help them stop smoking.

Prisoner advocates are critical of the decision.

Barbara Hill, with the John Howard Society of Ontario, says that quitting smoking can be a lot more difficult for someone living in a prison than on the outside. Life on the inside is stressful and there is not a lot to preoccupy a person.

She pointed out that there has been a drastic cutback in meaningful activities and opportunities available to prisoners in that last 30 years. This has mostly been due to so called security concerns.

Prisoners are anxious about the ban. They fear there may be violence when people can no longer smoke. It may also increase tensions as tobacco goes into the underground prison economy. Some prisoners see this as one more way for prison authorities to control and theaten them in the prison environment.