Tobacco.org

Tobacco Ban OK’d at Jail  

Beginning June 4, tobacco will become a contraband item at the Sandoval County Detention Center.

Sandoval County commissioners on Thursday unanimously approved a policy change proposed by Detention Center director Al Casamento to prohibit the possession and consumption of all tobacco products at the jail. The ban covers staff, visitors and contractors as well as inmates.

At present, inmates and staff are allowed to smoke in outdoor areas at the jail.

Casamento said staff faced with the prospect of having to give up cigarettes or chew during their work shift can take advantage of smoking cessation classes. Inmates, who can spend up to 364 days in the county lock-up, will have to go cold turkey.

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Crestline man gets probation for smuggling cigarettes 

BUCYRUS -- A Crestline man was sentenced to three years probation Thursday after pleading guilty to a third-degree felony charge of illegal conveyance of drugs into a correctional facility.

David J. Kegley, 35, 600 S. Pearl St., admitted attempting to smuggle cigarettes into the Crawford County Justice Center on Feb. 25.

Kegley was given credit for four days time served and was ordered to pay a $250 fine and court costs.

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Sandoval County considering eliminating jailhouse smoking 

BERNALILLO - Need that nicotine fix? It may no longer be available at the Sandoval County jail.

County commissioners are set to vote on whether to ban tobacco products from the grounds of the county jail. The measure is on the agenda for the commission meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday in the county administration building in Bernalillo.

If approved, the ban would prevent inmates from using or having tobacco products. Staff members would be allowed to use and have them only in the employee parking lot. As it stands, inmates and staff can smoke in outdoor areas.

Detention Center Director Al Casamento said the ban is aimed at creating a healthier environment for employees and inmates.

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State's prisons study link between violence, tobacco  

Ohio's top prison official has asked his department to investigate whether an increase in violence is linked to a tobacco ban and the subsequent use of contraband tobacco as a commodity among inmates.

"Tobacco has become a currency that's used in our prisons," with a hand-rolled cigarette valued at up to $5, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Gary Mohr told the Dayton Daily News.

The department's chief security-threat investigator, Vinko Kucinic, said gangs can gain power in prison by controlling the trade of contraband goods that can be sold or used to barter, such as the tobacco, illegal drugs and weapons. Officials are concerned the fight to control the flow of such goods has stirred more violence.

Mohr is looking into whether disturbances involving at least four inmates were connected to illicit tobacco. Those incidents happened on average once every 28 days in 2008 and once every two weeks by 2010, the year after the ban took effect, Mohr said.

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Prison violence driven by recent tobacco ban?  

Ohio’s top prison official has asked his department to investigate whether an increase in violence is linked to a tobacco ban and the subsequent use of contraband tobacco as a commodity among inmates.

“Tobacco has become a currency that’s used in our prisons,” where a hand-rolled cigarette is valued at up to $5, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Director Gary Mohr said.

The department’s chief security-threat investigator, Vinko Kucinic, said gangs can gain power in prison by controlling the trade of contraband goods such as the tobacco, illegal drugs and weapons that can be sold or used to barter. Officials are concerned that the fight to control the flow of such goods has stirred more violence.

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• Cellphones, weapons and drugs flood Ohio prisons 

Illegal drugs, weapons, tobacco and cellphones are flooding Ohio's prisons, spurring a new wave of violence as rival gangs battle for control of the black market.

The frequency of violent disturbances has doubled since 2008, leading Ohio's top prison
official to launch a study about whether a March 2009 tobacco ban is stirring the trouble.

"Tobacco has become a currency that's used in our prisons," Director Gary Mohr of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said.

Ohio's prisons house more than 50,000 inmates and will cost taxpayers $1.57 billion in fiscal year 2012. Contraband has long been a problem in the prisons, with inmates gaining access to it through the mail, visitors and corrupt prison employees.

But Mohr said something new is happening: People in the outside world have become much bolder about throwing packages of contraband over perimeter fences, . . .

"All over this country, facilities are being assaulted, almost, by outside people," he said. "It's a battle
that didn't exist in the past, certainly (not) to the degree we have it now."

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Law would make felony of smuggling smokes, phones  

A key state Senate committee voted unanimously Wednesday to introduce legislation that would make it a felony to smuggle cellphones and cigarettes into Idaho prisons after authorities said such contraband demands huge prices on the black market.

Idaho Department of Correction officials requested the action at a hearing of the Judiciary and Rules Committee, saying cellphones are the most sought-after contraband behind bars.

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Prison Smoking Ban 'Sets Back' Serial Rapist  

A prison smoking ban is among the factors holding back the release of a serial rapist, the Parole Board says.

Michael John Carroll, who is in his 50s, was recalled to prison to serve a sentence of preventive detention after leaving a Christchurch treatment centre in 2003. He had his latest bail application declined this month. . . .

A Parole Board decision this month said Carroll was in a prison at-risk unit, where inmates are held if they are at risk of harming themselves. The report noted Carroll's troubles "coincided with the non-smoking ban" in prisons in July this year.

"He had smoked all of his years in prison. He had great difficulty in giving up. He said he found himself suddenly becoming easily aggressive as a consequence of giving up smoking," the report said.

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Hoddle St killer to fight tobacco levy 

Hoddle Street mass murderer Julian Knight spends at least $80 a week on smokes but he hopes soon to spend less.

Knight was 19 when he shot dead seven people and injured 19 in the Hoddle Street massacre in Melbourne in 1987.

He has bought cigarettes and tobacco from prison canteens ever since.

In 1997, after a complaint about canteen prices, Knight became aware of a levy imposed on tobacco products in Victorian jails.

Since then he has made a number of complaints to the ombudsman and auditor-general and has now taken his fight to the Victorian Supreme Court.

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Smoking ban for Guernsey prison visitors 

A smoking ban for visitors to Guernsey's prison, which is aimed at protecting visitors and staff from secondary smoke inhalation, has begun. . . .

Deputy Governor Dave Matthews said smoke from outside could drift into the building and "there are often young children waiting in the foyer".

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• Knight wins approval to fight tobacco levy 

Hoddle Street mass murderer Julian Knight has won court approval to bring a case challenging a tobacco levy in prisons.

Knight, who was 19 when he shot dead seven people and injured 19 in the Hoddle Street massacre in Melbourne in 1987, has been declared a vexatious litigant and must seek court approval before commencing a case.

He argues that Corrections Victoria does not have the power to impose the tobacco levy of at least 10 per cent which has been in place since 1993.

Victorian Supreme Court Associate Justice Melissa Daly today allowed Knight to proceed with his case, saying it was not doomed to fail or an abuse of process.

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Knight to challenge prison tobacco tax  

Mass murderer Julian Knight has been given court approval to fight for cheaper cigarettes in prison.

Julian Knight applied to the Supreme Court to launch a legal challenge against a prison tobacco levy.

He is arguing the levy, which adds 10 per cent or more to the wholesale price of cigarettes, is unlawful.

The court heard the Department of Justice introduced the levy in 1993 to raise funds for health initiatives and anti-smoking programs, but there is no retail margin on tobacco sold in jails. . . .

As a vexatious litigant, he requires court approval to take any legal action.

Associate Justice Melissa Davy has ruled his case has merit.

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For Visitors to Rikers With Sneaky Intentions, a Last Chance to Reconsider  

Last year, there were 393,394 visits to Rikers to see inmates. No number of signs and posters warning against bringing forbidden items stops some of them from trying. And technology has yet to replace the sixth sense of the corrections officers who look them over. . . .

A sample: On Oct. 27, a visitor was caught with $50 cash, believed to be intended for an inmate, and was arrested. On Nov. 3, an officer saw a visitor pass something to an inmate over their table. It was a green balloon with a "brown leafy substance" that turned out to be tobacco, which is forbidden, according to an incident report. An hour later, an officer searching a visitor found three balloons in the person's pants waistband containing tobacco and crushed pills.

Two days later, a switchblade was found hidden in a visitor's belt. On Nov. 10, officers found two razors in another visitor's wallet and 24 grams of tobacco as it was passed to an inmate. On Nov. 17, a canine identified only as "12" alerted an officer to two visitors, ages 16 and 21, sitting with the same inmate. Both visitors were hiding latex gloves, one filled with tobacco and the other with marijuana.

Officers watch for squirming visitors who may have hidden drugs in a body cavity. . . .

In all the above cases, the visitors were arrested. There were 37 arrests in October, and 32 in January. Just as most of the visitors at Rikers Island are women, so, too, are the majority of those arrested, outnumbering men, three to one, in September.

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Woman warder jailed for affair with killer at prison where inmates 'have an easy life'  

A judge blasted a prison's lax regime yesterday as he jailed a female prison officer for having an affair with a killer.

The relationship between Rachel Klein, 29, and inmate Steven Chapman, 27, highlighted the lack of discipline at HMP Lindholme, where prisoners had easy access to tobacco, computer and telephones, the court was told.

The couple regularly kissed and held hands, as well as exchanging intimate love letters. In one letter, Klein wrote that if she had been allowed to wear a skirt in the jail, she would have had sex with him.

Recorder Carl Gumsley said: 'I urge the authorities to investigate what was going on in this establishment as soon as possible and to ensure that if any of the allegations are true, they are dealt with accordingly.'

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Cushy prison life: Free tobacco, ensuite showers and Playstations in cells  

PRISONERS enjoy en-suite showers and PlayStation in their cells under a soft regime at a South Yorkshire jail - and are even rewarded by officers with contraband tobacco.

Doncaster Crown Court was told of the ‘Lindholme Syndrome’ - used to describe the comfortable life which some prisoners enjoy.

Recorder Carl Gumsley - who has demanded an inquiry - spoke of his concerns after sentencing a woman prison officer at HMP Lindholme to 18 months’ jail for misconduct in a public office.

Rachael Klein, aged 29, of Stripe Road, Rossington, had admitted a romantic affair with a killer doing time on L-wing at Lindholme.

During their affair, she sent him love letters, provided him with tobacco and money, let him make private phone calls

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