Ban On Smoking May Increase Violence in Prisons
Posted on July 12, 2005
Have you seen System Failure? This short film exposes the neglect and abuse of the youth detained at the California Youth Authority (CYA) prisons. As campaigns to close the CYA prisons and reform the structure of juvenile incarceration gain momentum, other laws affecting prisoners are being passes and perhaps for the worse.
AlterNet reported today that on July 1, 2005 a smoking ban was put in place throughout all California prisons. While this new legislation was proposed as a way to save millions in health care costs and improve the health of prisoners, evidence suggests that the ban may increase violence among the detainees. In 2000, Maine banned smoking in prisons and the number of assaults in the prison quadrupled.
The question at hand is: do the health benefits of enforcing the smoking ban without an infrastructure of support and medication outweigh the potential violence among the prisoners?
Read Tony Newman's article "Prison Smokescreen.
Take action and sign the petition to close the California Youth Authority prisons.
Related Films: System Failure
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