Society's Child
The smoking ban in jails has sparked a rise in assaults and vandalism by cig-craving lags. An inspectors' report blames tobacco withdrawal for a series of incidents.
HMP Cardiff was plunged into darkness when prisoners dismantled a kettle to get sparks to light homemade cigarettes and tripped a fusebox. The desperate inmates had fashioned smokes out of tea and shredded nicotine patches after smoking was banned last year.
The report by the Independent Monitoring Board said: "There is no proof of a direct link with the ban.
"But the indirect consequences of the increase in offences such as damage to property, assaults, possession of unauthorised articles and disobeying lawful orders could be due to stress resulting from tobacco withdrawal. Some prisoners have a long history of smoking and their attempts to continue in the face of the ban lead to further numbers of disciplinary offences."
The report adds: "The smoking ban does appear to also have contributed to an increase in the use of other substances smuggled into the prison and improvised substances. The resultant fumes are unpleasant and possibly more toxic than cigarette smoke."
All prisons in England and Wales are on course to ban smoking.
The Sunday People revealed in January that lags denied cigarettes had begun smoking the class A drug Spice.
Terry Fullerton of the prison officers' union the POA said the vast majority of prisoners accepted the ban.
Reader Comments
@HFL:
Though I've suffered numerous accidents in my life, I've only had one surgery (other than stitches and an extracted wisdom tooth).
My surgery was a one day operation, many years ago. I went in early in the morning and was out that afternoon.
I had two nurses, or pre- and post- operative attendants, a man and a woman.
The man was great, he was personable and considerate, a very caring individual. The very next day, since I had gotten his full name, I called him on the phone and thanked him for his kindness. The guy was very surprised. He was like: 'Wow, nobody has ever called me on the phone and thanked me like this before.'
But that is how I operate.
The other nurse, a female, was awful, and made me feel crummy whenever she was near. I would prefer to forget her. But there are so many more like her.
ned,
out
Comment: Another smoking ban based on lies and junk science. See: