Prison chiefs order ‘bespoke’ e-cigs to appease offenders
OFFENDERS are to be offered ‘prison issue’ e-cigarettes so they can feed their habit behind bars.
Scotland’s jails will become smoke-free when a complete ban on traditional smoking comes into force later this year.
Faced with life without tobacco, inmates have demanded access to top-of-the range, rechargeable vaping devices, which can be used with a variety of flavours of liquid nicotine (e-liquid).
However, because models available on the high street are too open to abuse, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) has been forced to commission a ‘bespoke’ design.
Prison rules mean the SPS vaporisers must use sealed, tamper-proof e-liquid capsules and connect to cable-free chargers that cannot be used to power mobile phones.
The custom-made vaporisers will be available in all prisons by the end of next month, the SPS confirmed last night.
The vaping devices will be on sale within prison shops, and prisoners will be allowed able to pay up the cost (around £30 to £40) over a number of weeks. Refill capsules will be sold separately.
Around 5,000 inmates smoke – some 70 per cent of the Scottish prison population, which is three times the national average.
Although smoking in enclosed public places was banned north of the Border in 2006, prison cells were given an exemption to allow offenders to keep lighting up.
But from November 30, the country’s 15 prisons are going completely smoke-free.
The move follows University of Glasgow research that shows prison officers had to endure second-hand smoke concentrations ‘comparable to pubs’ prior to the 2006 legislation.
An SPS spokesman said: ‘We are keen to introduce e-cigarettes within the prison environment ahead of going smoke-free.
‘We have been working with NHS Scotland to provide smoking cessation sessions and have a poster campaign to ensure everyone knows how long there is to go and what options are available.’
The spokesman added: ‘We have been working with companies to source and develop vaping devices fit for purpose in the prison environment.
‘We introduced basic, single-use devices but we have seen a marked reduction in sales and a degree of user dissatisfaction.
‘Our focus groups told us they wanted the vaping devices that are used in the community, which can be used with flavoured e-liquids.’
Kevin Hogg, spokesman for the National Victims’ Association, said: ‘It is a huge shame that the authorities put so much effort and money into schemes to improve the lives of offenders and do so little to help the victims of crime.
‘Prisoners get everything they could possibly need and victims get next to nothing.
‘Why couldn’t they just use the basic e-cigarettes which required no alterations?’
Concerns have been raised that a total smoking ban in prisons could spark riots or trigger challenges under the Human Rights Act.
The SPS had considered a partial ban, whereby offenders would still be able to smoke during exercise breaks outside, but it was deemed ‘unrealistic’.
SPS chief executive Colin McConnell said last year: ‘It is not acceptable that those in our care and those who work in our prisons should be exposed to second-hand smoke.
‘This will be a significant challenge. I fully understand how difficult it will be for many in our care to give up smoking.
‘That is why we are committed to working alongside our partners in the NHS to provide every support possible to assist them.’