Jump to full article: Bloomington (IL) Pantagraph, 2008-12-21
Author: Kurt Erickson
Intro: But now, after almost 12 months, there have been no major incidents to report.
“I think it’s actually worked better than I think anybody anticipated,” said Randy Hellman, a correctional officer at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center.
Prison officials also say the smoking ban has gone well.
“We will have an occasional violation with an inmate, staff or visitor in possession of tobacco, but those occurrences have been minimal,” said Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman Derek Schnapp. . . .
Schnapp said inmates got the opportunity to take smoking cessation classes. Prison stores began stocking nicotine patches and lozenges.
The state also begin offering inmates three pieces of sugarless, hard candy with meals in order to take their minds off of having a cigarette after eating.
In addition, the department believes a smoking ban already in effect in county jails helped with the transition.
“We have not really seen anything that would relate fights to lack of nicotine,” Schnapp said.
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