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USA: smoke-free behind bars

d.simpson@iath.org

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

In many countries, prisons are almost a by-word for smoking. It is embedded in prison systems, part of their subcultures and special vocabularies. In Britain, for example, tobacco is "snout" and those who illicitly trade in it are "barons". The thought of being able to stub out smoking in prisons has normally been regarded as little more than a pipedream.

All credit, then, to the prison authorities in California, the largest and most diverse US state, which now allows no tobacco at all on state property. No employee, visitor or inmate is exempted. With 33 prisons and 170 000 prisoners, seven out of 10 of whom are smokers, this is an extraordinary achievement, especially in light of its description as the country’s most overcrowded and gang-ridden prison system. However, the effect of living and working under the ban will eventually have substantial health benefits, for the 95% of inmates who . . . [Full text of this article]