Russell County Jail in Phenix City, Alabama sells inmates e-cigarettes and e-Liquids, in the hope of keeping the jail peaceful and quiet without the need to smoke regular cigarettes. The article can be read at wrbl news here.
The e-Cigarettes started sales inside the big house earlier in the month and freely available from $18. Regular cigarettes are banned as the county sheriff believes that cigarettes cause numerous problems for the staff at the prison. The plan is to give the inmates their nicotine and the freedom to buy e-cigs, calming the atmosphere and being less dangerous than cigarettes. Heath Taylor (County Sheriff) says he wishes for a calming, positive atmosphere within the jail.
“One of the things we were looking at is having a calmer, better behaved inmate and I think that will happen with the introduction of the e-cigarette.”
The sales of e-cigarettes are a welcome for convict Tony Brown, who claims many inmates have tested the e-cigarette and enjoy socialising while using them. Wardens of the facility and other high staus figures will want the prisoners to continue to enjoy e-cigarettes, as a decrease in contraband tobacco products is expected as a result. Contraband cigarettes and tobacco products are a big problem for prison staff and many jails across the USA. Simple sales of e-cigs, without making them contraband, may make some prisioners believe that tobacco is not worth getting in to trouble over. The prison actually make $5 on each e-cigarette sold so it costs the taxpayer nothing also to introduce e-cigs.