Riots

Another of Tobacco Control's lies

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of charity Action on Smoking and Health, said there was no evidence to support claims that depriving prisoners of tobacco could lead to riots.

“Prisons all around the world have gone smoke-free with few problems and, in the UK, all high-security psychiatric facilities have already gone smoke-free, as have prisons in the Isle of Man and Guernsey, without any trouble,” she said.

Yet every time the idea of a ban is raised in the media, the headlines inevitably focus on fears of unrest and riots, rather than the health and wellbeing of inmates and staff.

The hypothesis that depriving smokers of tobacco could destabilise prisons may sound plausible, but there is little evidence to back it up.

May 2018 - Leicester, England

Leicester Prison experienced a sharp rise in violence – including assaults on staff – after inmates were banned from smoking, according to an inspection report.

The Welford Road jail became strictly non-smoking on July 24 last year.

August 2017 - Birmingham, England

On Twitter, a West Midlands based criminology lecturer claimed the prison's Wing A was "severely damaged" as inmates were heard chanting "we want burn" - which is prison slang for tobacco.

August 2017 - Cumbria, England

Prisoners staged a nine-hour riot and caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage - after they were banned from smoking.

Inmates smashed sinks, flooded cells and destroyed TVs at the Category C HMP Haverigg as they became the latest prison to be subject to the smoking ban.

May 2017 - Staffordshire, England

Some 'nicotine addict' prisoners became violent and staged sit-ins knowing they would be moved to another jail where they can smoke freely.

Inmates in Drake Hall Women's Prison went berserk and sat on the roof after a ban was tested there in May, one insider said.

[...]

'Within the first week of the shop stopping selling it there was a riot. Loads of prisoners refused to go back to their cells and it was mayhem.

'There were women screaming and shouting, sitting on the roofs of blocks. After it calmed down a lot of those involved were transferred, probably to prisons where they can smoke.

June 2015 - Melbourne, Australia

Police armed with tear gas and water cannons were on Tuesday evening still attempting to contain a riot that broke out at a maximum security prison in Victoria earlier in the day, after prisoners became angered by the introduction of a smoking ban.

June 2015 - Victoria, Australia

Prison overcrowding and inadequate fencing contributed to Victoria's largest prison riot, which was sparked when a canteen ran out of tobacco ahead of the state-wide smoking ban, a review has found.

June 2014 - Queensland, Australia

ACCUSED drug cartel go-between Peter Nash has now joined other prisoners who claim they were bashed by riot police during a May 5 protest at Wacol's Arthur Gorrie prison after protest against smoking bans.

September 2009 - Kentucky, America

[about a riot] Outlawing smoking can sometimes do as much harm as good when it comes to controlling the inmate population, he said. Often, that will create a black market in which a pack of cigarettes could be sold for hundreds of dollars.

July 2008 - Merseyside, England

Solicitor Richard Nicholas, whose Ashworth clients include child killer Brady, said: "The smoking ban didn't go down too well with a lot of the patients.

"So for ex-prisoners who are used to being allowed to light up to come in and be told they can't smoke it was a real shock.

"They just couldn't handle it and vented their fury in the form of a rooftop protest."

February 2008 - Quebec

{{quote|1=Another riot happened in February 2008, apparently triggered by a smoking ban at the facility.