Right now, if prisoners use up their 12 allotted pads for the month, they have to work 27 hours to afford a $4 box of tampons.

Via AZ Central:

Currently, incarcerated women get 12 free pads each month. They must ask an officer if they need more, must pay for them, and may only possess up to 24 at a time. Unlike in other states, if they want tampons, they must buy them.

Former prisoners and advocates say that's not acceptable.

[…] Numerous women testified how humiliating and frustrating the current situation is.

"Bloodstained pants, bartering and begging for pads and tampons was a regular occurrence," Adrienne Kitcheyan said of her six years in Perryville.