No smoking in workplaces and enclosed public places has been in force in the UK since 2007. Now, it is being introduced in a place which has been exempt from this ban, prisons. The Prison Service is considering introducing a ban on smoking in all prisons in England and Wales by 2015. A pilot program of smoke-free prisons shall be launched in the next year. The smoking ban will not apply only to the common prison areas, but also to the cells and the outdoor areas. It is expected that it will not be a simple step since 80% of the more than 84 thousand prisoners in England and Wales are estimated to be smokers. The Prison Service wants to offer them nicotine patches instead.
The British association of the prison service employees - Prison Officers Association (POA) - has tried to ban smoking in prisons for several years. It particularly draws attention to the danger of passive smoking to exposed prison employees and prisoners. BBC interviewed Dave Matthews, director of the Island of Guernsey Prison, who banned smoking in his prison this year. He claims to have had a good experience with the ban. Prisoners were offered the use of nicotine patches or purchasing electronic cigarettes. Despite initial resistance, Matthews now views the change as beneficial. The same procedure has been introduced in juvenile correctional facilities.
British organizations that strive to reform the prison system and have been working with prisoners for a long time, tend to criticize the efforts to ban smoking in prisons. According to the BBC, they are afraid of increasing the pressure in prisons, which due to budget cuts has already been increased to an unacceptably high level.
They warn against the possibility of at least a short-term deterioration of the prisoners' mental state. According to them, the state should focus more on serious problems of the prison system such as the question of prisoners' rehabilitation after release.
As human resource experts, let's try to answer the following interesting question, should nonsmoking prison employees and prisoners have the right to be protected from the consequences of passive smoking, or can smoking not be prohibited in such a specific environment?
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