Coping with life in prison: should we ban smoking in jail?

The scheme, which will monitor how prisoners react to the ban, could be launched in the spring of next year, reports the Times. The sites for any trial have not yet been chosen.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “We are considering banning smoking across the prison estate and as part of this are looking at possible sites as early adopters.”

The spokesman told Channel 4 News that any pilot scheme would be “closely monitored.”

Disruption fear

However some organisations fear the ban could cause disruption in prisons, with around 80 per cent of inmates in England and Wales believed to smoke according to the NHS.

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, told the Times that introducing the ban would be difficult.

Many prisoners turn to tobacco as a way of coping with life. Prison Reform Trust

“There is no pretending otherwise,” he said. “It could cause disturbances but they have done it successfully in Canada and in young offender institutions in England and Wales.”

He added: “We welcome this move. It is our policy to have smoke-free prisons for our members.”

Way of coping

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said the positives of introducing a ban would have to be “weighed against the impact it will have on prisoners and the smooth running of regimes”.

She said: “Smoking is one of the few choices left to the 84,000 people behind bars in England and Wales.

“Stress, anxiety and self-harm are common experiences among prisoners and many turn to tobacco as a way of coping with life in our overcrowded and under-resourced jails.”

But Rob Kelly, author of Thrive as a Non Smoker, said that scheme should be in place to help prisoners stop smoking.

He said: “Banning prisoners from smoking would be a travesty because you’re taking away their privileges.

“Prisoners should be helped to stop smoking. For most smokers it’s not about the addiction, it’s about the belief they can’t give up.”