DWIGHT E. ABBOTT, NEW AMERICA MEDIA - An "experiment" was conducted for
several years in the California Medical Facility state prison in
Vacaville banning all tobacco. Within weeks, tobacco was being smuggled
into the prison by visitors and guards. One $10, six-ounce can of Bugler
tobacco then sold for $50, gradually increasing to $300. Individual
cigarettes or "rollies" (400 can be made), first priced at $1, became
$10 each. Three months passed, and a pack of Camel cigarettes was
selling for $150 plus. Violence erupted as profits proved tobacco to be
more valuable than drugs. Everybody wanted a piece of the action.
No matter those disheartening findings, to "improve working conditions
and cut health care cost among inmates," the DOC bulled forward: there
would be no smoking by inmates or guards beginning July, 2005. The
results, as expected, mirror exactly what occurred at the California
Medical Facility. Black marketing of tobacco became more profitable than
marijuana or heroin, with penalties - if caught - a misdemeanor criminal
offense, at worst. . .
"Hell, my family was smuggling drugs in to me so I can help support
them. Now, they bring me tobacco instead. . . " bragged one prison
friend of mine. . .
Recently, at the maximum-security prison at Pelican Bay, a convict who
had been paroled hours earlier was found sneaking back onto prison
grounds holding a pillowcase filled with 50 ounces of tobacco worth
nearly $10,000. He had intended to throw it over the institution's fence
where his associates were waiting to retrieve it.
"It's becoming a better market than drugs," shared Correctional Officer
Hawkes, an anti-gang coordinator at Pelican Bay. . .
He admitted earning "several hundreds of dollars each week" in this way.
A prison cook at Folsom Prison chose to quit his job after plastic bags
filled with tobacco were found in the pockets of his jacket. He admitted
to earning approximately $1,000 a week. "It was more than I was being
paid by the DOC to cook for the inmates."
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=
2b6b57d4103050807879a95fd9ad7696
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several years in the California Medical Facility state prison in
Vacaville banning all tobacco. Within weeks, tobacco was being smuggled
into the prison by visitors and guards. One $10, six-ounce can of Bugler
tobacco then sold for $50, gradually increasing to $300. Individual
cigarettes or "rollies" (400 can be made), first priced at $1, became
$10 each. Three months passed, and a pack of Camel cigarettes was
selling for $150 plus. Violence erupted as profits proved tobacco to be
more valuable than drugs. Everybody wanted a piece of the action.
No matter those disheartening findings, to "improve working conditions
and cut health care cost among inmates," the DOC bulled forward: there
would be no smoking by inmates or guards beginning July, 2005. The
results, as expected, mirror exactly what occurred at the California
Medical Facility. Black marketing of tobacco became more profitable than
marijuana or heroin, with penalties - if caught - a misdemeanor criminal
offense, at worst. . .
"Hell, my family was smuggling drugs in to me so I can help support
them. Now, they bring me tobacco instead. . . " bragged one prison
friend of mine. . .
Recently, at the maximum-security prison at Pelican Bay, a convict who
had been paroled hours earlier was found sneaking back onto prison
grounds holding a pillowcase filled with 50 ounces of tobacco worth
nearly $10,000. He had intended to throw it over the institution's fence
where his associates were waiting to retrieve it.
"It's becoming a better market than drugs," shared Correctional Officer
Hawkes, an anti-gang coordinator at Pelican Bay. . .
He admitted earning "several hundreds of dollars each week" in this way.
A prison cook at Folsom Prison chose to quit his job after plastic bags
filled with tobacco were found in the pockets of his jacket. He admitted
to earning approximately $1,000 a week. "It was more than I was being
paid by the DOC to cook for the inmates."
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=
2b6b57d4103050807879a95fd9ad7696
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