Soon to be a thing of the past – smoking in jail (Picture: PA)

Inmates are staging riots over a new Government ban on smoking in prisons, which is seeing tobacco steadily phased out.

A ban on tobacco cigarettes is now being slowly introduced into prisons, with several jails already having banned them outright.

Others, meanwhile, are preparing to be completely smoke-free by September.

One recent inmate of Drake Hall Women’s Prison told Metro.co.uk that she was dismayed to see how the smoking ban had changed the atmosphere in the jail.


She said: ‘We got all the leaflets about how the ban was going to happen – first the shop would stop selling tobacco, and then the total ban would come in.



‘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.

‘If they know stopping smoking is going to cause so much trouble why are they pushing ahead? If women in an open prison riot, then what are all the men in a maximum security jail going to do?’

HMP Drake Hall where the phasing out of the sale of tobacco caused prisoners to riot (Picture: PA)

The prison service confirmed that there was an incident at HMP Drake Hall in Staffordshire.

A prison service spokesman said: ‘Drake Hall is not currently smoke-free, but is working towards becoming smoke-free.

‘Staff successfully resolved an incident involving a number of offenders at HMP Drake Hall on Wednesday, May 14.

‘No injuries were sustained by prisoners or staff and there was no threat to the public.’

There are potential solutions. Over the last two years, for example, the Prison Service has been promoting the sale of electronic cigarettes in jails in a bid to wean inmates off tobacco.

But with an estimated 80% of male prisoners being smokers, and the use of tobacco as a currency in jails, the ban could still have some unforeseen consequences.

Former prisoner, academic and blogger Alex Cavendish told Metro.co.uk: ‘Hard core nicotine addicts know that they only need to cause trouble for staff before they are “shipped out” to another establishment.

‘This in turn is reflected in a rise of disciplinary offences, including violence.

‘Another key concern is the potential impact of a smoking ban on the smuggling of contraband tobacco into prisons, either by visitors or by corrupt members of staff.’

Mr Cavendish said the low morale of prison officers and the under-staffing of prisons could exacerbate any problems caused by a smoking ban.

The real test, he said, will come when the category B jails go smoke-free.

Could the introduction of e-cigarettes help wean prisoners off tobacco? (Picture: Getty Images)

The Prison Service confirmed the smoking ban was imminent, but would only be implemented when it was safe to do so.

A spokesman told Metro.co.uk: ‘We have always been clear that we would not set any arbitrary targets for prisons to become smoke-free.

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‘They will only become smoke-free when it is safe to do so.’



The spokesman added: ‘This phased introduction will reduce the risk to staff and prisoners of exposure to second hand smoke, whilst maintaining the safety and security of our prisons.’

The Prison Service also pointed to ‘a series of assessments which will test the operational stability, readiness and health readiness of the prisons to implement the policy in a safe, decent and secure way.’