At the maximum security Hakea Prison in Perth, Australia, as of Monday smoking will be banned in cells. This has prison officers fairly worried as they are afraid tensions will rise once the ban is imposed in the already overcrowded jails.
As of next week inmates at Hakea will no longer be permitted to smoke in their cells during the day, as a part of the Department of Corrective Services' smoking reduction policy, according to John Welch, secretary of the WA Prison Officers Union.
Though an agreement was reached by the union that passive smoking could pose potential harm to its members, Welch said that the more pressing concern was that the already tense inmates would be further aggravated if they were not allowed to smoke. Due to these fears, it has been decided that the ban would be introduced gradually - first by banning smoking during daylight hours. The inmates will still be able to smoke outside of the units, but this could also be banned in the future.
Any comments? Is this great news or simply stupid. I vote for the latter…
[Via: watoday.com.au]
