E-Cigarettes Allowed in White County Jail
From: WSILTV.com Your Southern Illinois News Leader
By Sam Smith
CARMI — When someone who smokes winds up in jail, they usually have to say goodbye to their cigarettes. That’s not the case anymore in White County. The jail now allows inmates to have electronic cigarettes.
White County has not allowed smoking in its jail since 2002. Sheriff Doug Maier banned tobacco products when he was elected. He says second hand smoke was a problem; the smoke would linger and he didn’t think it was fair to the other inmates.
“It was difficult for a while for the ones that had been used to being able to smoke, there was an adjustment period,” said Maier.
Despite the ban, Maier says inmates continued to find ways to light up.
“It was a constant battle that they were trying to smuggle tobacco products into the jail,” Maier explained.
He hopes electronic cigarettes will stop inmates from sneaking in contraband and also bring in some money for the sheriff’s department. The prisoners will be charged $13.50 for each e-cigarette. All the
revenue will go toward improvements at the jail.
“Anytime we have something that may ease that burden, we think this will, we think we have an obligation to take a look at it,” Maier said.
The county works with a Kentucky based company called CrossBar, that makes regular and menthol e-cigarettes that are safer than other brands.
“The metal ones could possibly be used as a weapon. These are all plastic, and they are designed so that they can be used in a jail setting and not present any danger to the people in the back,” said Mair.
Each e-cigarette holds 500 puffs which equates to two and a half packs. Sheriff Maier insists his department isn’t trying to make things easier for inmates, he’s just trying to operate the jail as efficiently as
possible.
White County is a week and a half into its e-cigarette trial run. The experiment is set to last 90 days. If everything goes well, it will be permanent.
