Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2000 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: 1101 Baxter Rd.,Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M4 Fax: 613-596-8522 Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ Author: Ryan Baker JAILHOUSE CIGARETTES SOAR TO $30 A PACK AS BAN LOOMS Booming Black Market Another Sign That Ban Will Cause Trouble, Corrections Critics Say The black market for cigarettes in Toronto-area jails is heating up as the province tightens its ban on smoking in its facilities. A single package of cigarettes is costing inmates as much as $30 in the eight jails affected by the ban, which will have smoking phased out entirely by September. One inmate at the Mimico Correctional Centre, located west of Toronto, told the Citizen he was lucky to get three packs of cigarettes for $60 -- a bargain that's getting harder to find by the day. "Prices are always going up," said Barbara Hill, director of policy development at the John Howard Society of Ontario, a social services group for inmates. "I wouldn't have a clue what the prices could rise to. It gets worse and worse." The province currently allows inmates to buy two packages of cigarettes a week, at the regular price. But starting tomorrow, it will be down to one package. And in September, the facilities will be smoke-free. "It's one of the things that's creating hostile, tense environments in prisons," Ms. Hill said. "And what happens in hostile, tense environments could be dangerous." She said it's one more thing that adds to inmate stress, which is already stretched beyond its limits by overcrowding. The province currently allows inmates to buy two packages of cigarettes a week, at the regular price. But starting tomorrow, it will be down to one package. And in September, the facilities will be smoke-free. "It's one of the things that's creating hostile, tense environments in prisons," Ms. Hill said. "And what happens in hostile, tense environments could be dangerous." Ms. Hill said the higher prices get for black market cigarettes, the more dangerous the jails will become. Higher prices can mean higher debts, she said, and if inmates can't pay their debts it often leads to violence. Correction officials have already expressed concern the ban will lead to violence and other disturbances in the jails, which currently house about 3,100 inmates. Ms. Hill said the government is trying to make life as miserable as possible for inmates in order to deter people from offending. But deterrence doesn't work, according to research, she said. "The purpose of the move toward smoke-free jails is to improve the quality of the air for the health benefits of the inmates and staff," said Ross Virgo, a spokesman for the Ministry of Correctional Services. Mr. Virgo did not deny the province has an agenda to make life harder for inmates, but emphasized the ban is a response to a "health issue." Ms. Hill said she agrees with the need to protect staff and inmates from second-hand smoke, but feels there are better ways to do so without an all-out ban, suggesting designated smoking areas. Earlier this year, 60 inmates at the Metro West Detention Centre in Mississauga went on a hunger strike to protest the smoking ban. A riot broke out last year at the Whitby Jail, one of the four detention centres in Ontario that are already completely smoke-free. Although ministry officials denied it was caused by the ban, some inmates demanded cigarettes during negotiations with police and got their wish. The province is planning to phase out smoking in all of its jails by the end of 2001. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager