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Comment by sleavey | Hacker News Reader

And the fact that smoking remains legal indoors in prisons. I get that there would be extra stress from withdrawal for new inmates, but it might let them quit a nasty, expensive habit while they're in. Plus, it's bad for the health of everyone in there, whether they're smoking or not, including the guards; they have no choice in being able to get away from smokers like you would do on the outside.

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Sorry but this is ridiculous. Your solution to inmates having crappy lives is to impose even more arbitrary restrictions on them? This would make sense only if they could voluntarily go outside for a smoke whenever they want or go to a special smoking room or whatever.

In a small space like a prison where people by definition can't get out, it seems draconian to let people smoke in light of the fact that there are others who don't want to inhale that and may have medical conditions exacerbated by it. By default, the recreational hobby of smoking should be disallowed.

> Your solution to inmates having crappy lives is to impose even more arbitrary restrictions on them?

What about the other prisoners and guards who don't smoke having smoke imposed on their lungs? Isn't that ridiculous? I'm suggesting we make this fairer, by not forcing inmates to breathe poisonous fumes in addition to serving their sentences. What makes prisons special compared to every other indoor public space (in most western countries) where it is banned - why are they exempt?

For one, prisoners are generally not allowed to step outside for a cigarette at their leisure

The right of nonsmokers to not breath second hand smoke has moral precedence over the right of smokers to smoke.

There's plenty (most, even?) of US prisons that don't allow any kind of tobacco. It's hard to make generalized statements as they are all different.

The one in the article mentions it. I shouldn't have generalised to the whole US, but my point stands for that particular prison and others like it.

>And the fact that smoking remains legal indoors in prisons.

This is like saying "OMG, <thing that is regulated by the states> isn't illegal in the US". Prisons are run by the states. Jails are usually run by the counties. Banning tobacco across the board for prisoners and staff is common because it becomes one less potential avenue of illicit trade between the guards and prisoners. Just because there isn't a law against doesn't mean it's not usually prohibited in practice.

No need to overreact. My point was that prisons are often exempt from local legislation regarding smoking in indoor public places, in the US and elsewhere [1]. I find this to be strange - it seems to punish prisoners who don't smoke over and above their sentence, and staff.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_ban#Effects_of_prison_...

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