Should We Let Prisoners Smoke?

by Matt Kelley · 2008-12-23 16:42:00 UTC
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An AP story this week said the first year of Illinois' new ban on cigarette smoking in prison has been a fairytale wonderland with nary a mishap, but I suspect this reporter could have dug up some dirt if he or she had wanted to. If prisoners can get their hands on crystal meth and Blackberrys, they can get cigarettes. I've heard that a pack of cigarettes in some prisons can score over $100, and there are businesspeople everywhere you go. South Carolina is also in its first year, but I can't find solid numbers on how many states still allow smoking in prison. Anybody got the stats?

My question is this: is it fair to ban smoking in prison? Should we let prisoners kill themselves slowly with tobacco or should we protect them from the public health risk?

My inclination is that it's fine to ban smoking in prison. We also ban alcohol and plenty of other items inside, and for people serving life sentences, the state will be responsible for the prisoner's longterm health. Smoking should certainly be banned indoors, as it creates a public health risk for all prisoners - even those who choose not to smoke. But I'm ok with banning cigarettes on prison yards as well - for the reasons mentioned above. I'm usually all for prisoners' rights, but I also think we should closely control cigarettes for the benefit of improved public health, and it's a fairly easy privilege to take from prisoners.

However, I wouldn't go so far as to join 22% of my fellow Americans who told Rasmussen last week that they would support a federal law making cigarette smoking illegal. War on Smokes anyone? (Interestingly, the poll turned up almost no difference between smokers and non-smokers. 22% of smokers would ban butts altogether, compared with 23% of nonsmokers.)

Matt Kelley is the Online Communications Manager at the Innocence Project and a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Follow him on Twitter @mattjkelley.
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