Iowa prisons to ban smoking

Iowa 's prisons are going smoke-free, despite an exemption from the state's new statewide smoking ban.

[ninewsview]

What a mess. This is indeed a captive audience. they are there to serve their time not to be forced into lifestyles choosen for them.
Where is the proof if you make people desperate and angry they try to behave better in society Is the reverse not true.
A more tolerant society, leads by example, no brute forse

[jasin]

"Classes to help inmates quit will be offered."

Oh gee thank you for the class. Have you ever tried to quit tobacco?

They listed health care costs as a reason for the ban. They need to track the cost increase of damage to facilities and other inmates when existing and new inmates are angry and moody after being made to quit cold turkey. I would bet they'll be spending more as a result of this decision.

[Thomas]

Smoking is the least of all dangers facing an inmate.
He can be raped, wounded in a prison brawl, killed by another inmate; he can lose his wife, children and friends; even under the best of circumstances, his future is bleak.
And we want to turn this guy into a sweet, healthy-conscious New Ager?
This is like telling a starving man to stay away from non-organically
grown produce.
The anti-smoking lobby, mixing lofty ideals and authoritarian impulses, as most crusaders do, want inmates to take programs to help them break the habit.
Why would a method that often fails when applied to well-adjusted citizens be successful in the tense environment of prison life?
Depriving inmates of cigarettes is an imposition of middle class values on a population that is largely under-educated and thus, as statistics show, more likely to smoke.
Inmates are paying their dues and their cell is their home. How far can the state invade someone's privacy?
And what's next? A ban on fantisies and masturbation?
Can prisons be transformed into peaceful, healthy havens? Probably not.
If inmates receive unnecessary, cruel treatment, the backlash might be worse than whiffs of second-hand smoke.

Thomas Laprade
Thunder Bay, Ont.
Canada

[Tim]

Studies have shown when tobacco is taken away from inmates drug use increases. This is also going to put these guys in an even worse mood and cause more violence. The government just doesnt understand unintended consequences.