From Reason:
When it comes to America’s prison system, it’s rare to find policy proposals that advance both public health and personal freedom. In the world of tobacco policy, proposals offering clear public health benefits without triggering concerns about costs or youth exposure might be even rarer. But, in a recent Filter article, author Jonathan Kirkpatrick offers a policy idea that accomplishes both: Let prisons sell safer alternatives to smoking through commissaries.
It’s an idea that, if implemented carefully, could improve inmate health, reduce contraband tobacco markets in prisons, and lower prisons’ healthcare expenses without increasing risk to the public. For those of us who have spent years advocating for pragmatic, science-based policies to reduce the harms associated with tobacco use, this proposal checks nearly every box. Importantly, it also centers discussion on a population too often ignored by both the tobacco harm reduction and tobacco control movements. For that reason alone, it deserves careful consideration by all experts in the field, regardless of their ideological camp.
Smoking among incarcerated people is staggeringly high, with estimates ranging from 70 to 80 percent. That’s roughly seven times the national average, even though tobacco has been banned in federal prisons since 2014 and removed from commissaries since 2006. Most state-run prisons prohibit smoking inside prison facilities, many extending that ban to include possession or use of any tobacco product anywhere on prison grounds. Continue reading >>>
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