Canadian prisons to ban smoking

All prisons in Canada will be smoke free as of next year. The government has decided to ban tobacco from being sold to or brought into the prisoners. So if you go to prison and you smoke, you will be forced to quit.

As of April 30, 2008 there will be a total ban in all of the 58 Canadian prisons. The Correctional Service of Canada already had an indoor smoking ban in all their prisons but the staff at the prisons said the ban was being ignored. Inmates were allowed to smoke outside but they would bring their cigarettes back to their cells and smoke in their cells, ignoring the ban. This is being done to get rid of second hand smoke and make the working and living environment better for the staff and prisoners and anyone else that has to visit the prisons. For anyone wanting to quit before the ban, there will be programs in place to offer assistance to them. Correctional officers had wanted this for many years now. They complained of having to walk into a room where it was nothing but second hand smoke. Pierre Mallette, who heads the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said "We've long known that second-hand smoke is a killer.""We understand that tobacco addiction is very strong," "Our members will do everything they can to implement strategies to help inmates through the withdrawal process. Some of our members will be equally affected by this new policy." Do you think this is a good idea forcing all to quit smoking? News release