Jail smoking ban 'a bridge too far'
Banning smoking in jails could drive the tobacco trade underground and make more work for prison officers, Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis says.
As Queensland became the latest State to flag a ban on smoking in prisons, Mr Francis did not rule out following suit in WA but said he was leaning towards "maintaining the status quo" of allowing smoking in designated outdoor areas.
"It's well and truly on my radar, I'm watching this space," he said. "I'm aware that there's very strong arguments for and against and at the moment I'm slightly on the side of maintaining the status quo on this.
"One of the things against it is my concern that there's a large percentage of people in prisons who have some kind of mental health issue.
"When they've been incarcerated they have been removed from their families and their support networks, they're giving up - in many cases - drug addictions cold turkey, they're giving up alcohol. I'm not quite sure if forcing them to give up nicotine is just a bridge too far.
"My concerns are not so much the prisoners but the management of the prisons because it'll create another contraband substance that will possibly be smuggled in."
The Northern Territory has banned smoking in its prisons and Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales have all proposed phasing it out.
The WA Prison Officers Union recently changed its position to support a smoking ban. Union secretary John Welch said the risks associated with passive smoking outweighed concerns about prisoner behaviour if a ban were to be implemented.
Cancer Council of WA director of education and research Terry Slevin said the health of prisoners and prison employees was at risk by allowing smoking.
"The argument we put forward is that the health of people who work in the prison system is just as important as the health of any other worker and the health of prisoners is just as important as anyone else," he said.
Australian Medical Association WA president Richard Choong said jail offered a "wonderful opportunity" for trying to quit smoking but any ban would require support for prisoners.
"Telling someone to go cold turkey in prison - I don't think that would work," he said.
