The Justice Department is preparing to outlaw tobacco products in federal prisons, the Washington Free Beacon reports.
DOJ cites concern for prisoners’ health and “a clean air environment” as the reason for the ban, but will still allow staff to smoke in some areas, “In the interests ofbalancing staff morale with institution safety and security.”
Recommended Stories
One commenter argued that the ban will ultimately be a safety hazard, spiking the price of contraband tobacco and “inciting inmate security issues.” DOJ responds that they will up punishments for contraband and increase searches of employees.
DOJ doesn’t have a great record of preventing contraband. A recent Inspector General report found that the Federal Bureau of Prisons shelled out $4 million for x-ray machines to prevent smuggling, only to later discover that the machines couldn’t detect some types of items, and prisons had not been trained on their shortcomings.
All tobacco products, including snuff and chewing tobacco, are included under the ban.
DOJ will provide a “Smoking Cessation Program” for the inmates which will “address nutrition, physical activity (exercise), stress management, and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).”
The ban will be published Monday, and will forbid all smoking except in cases of “religious exemption,” perhaps due to complaints that a ban would prevent Native Americans’ ceremonial tobacco smoking, the Beacon notes.
