A smoking ban in Missouri state prisons has resulted in a behind bars black market with a pack of cigarettes going for as much as $100.
According to a report by Fox2, corrections officers are making a profit from the illegal sales.
The cigarette ban went into effect in April after an asthmatic double murderer successfully sued the state over his own exposure to second hand smoke.
As part of the state’s settlement they agreed to disallow cigarettes to be purchased at the commissary, and inmates and officers were banned from smoking in or outside the prisons.
Missouri banned smoking in its 21 prisons in April of this year after a double murderer successfully sued the state over second hand smoke exacerbating his asthma
Missouri prisons banned smoking in its 21 prisons since April of this year. Now there is a black market for cigarettes with packs going for as much as $100 (Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron, pictured)
To make the situation worse, corrections officers are retiring or quitting at such a fast rate are working long hours because of dire under staffing issues.
Former Chief of Custody at Algoa Prison in Jefferson City, Bill Vallier told Fox2, ‘You’re missing graduations, birthdays and things at home. You’re actually spending more time in the institution than with your own family.’
Inmates are using the deteriorating morale among corrections officers to manipulate them into participating in the behind bars black market trade.
‘You can make a lot of money for something that’s not even illegal and some of the officers are falling prey to that, especially the new ones,’ Vallier added.
Bill Schmutz retired from his position as Deputy Warden at Algoa prison over the summer.
‘Overnight a pack of cigarettes went from a few dollars to a hundred dollars a pack and there is staff getting caught bringing cigarettes in. It`s the lure of easy money,’ Schmutz said.
And, officers are prohibited from leaving the prison facility to go on a smoke break as well.
Ecclesiastical Denzel Washington said his cellmates at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron exacerbated his asthma symptoms by smoking heavily
The prisoners are using officers’ disgruntled feelings against the DOC to their advantage, making them believe inmates can actually treat them better than the Department, it is claimed.
‘In one week we`ve counted seven corrections officers walk off the job because of the way they’re treated,’ one former prisoner who declined to be identified added.
Vallier added: ‘The anatomy of a set up sometimes begins with singling one of the staff out from the herd so to speak. They catch that disgruntled staff member that’s upset, who doesn`t like the way things are going. That’s somebody that`s susceptible to talk to – ‘hey, I can fix some of your problems.’
Ecclesiastical Denzel Washington, 53, sued the state claiming his heavy-smoker cellmate at Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron had exacerbated his asthma symptoms.
He was placed with his cellmate despite doctor’s orders that he be held somewhere smoke free.
A federal judge ruled in Washington’s favor and demanded all Missouri prisons be smoke-free by April 2018.
Missouri already bans smoking inside prison buildings, but it allowed it in designated areas outside.
The evidence at trial showed some inmates ignore these rules and are commonly written up for smoking in their cells.
Missouri previously allowed inmates to buy tobacco and lighters to keep in their cells.
Attorney Phillip Zeeck, who helped represent Washington, said the ruling would save Missouri taxpayers money because of the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses for the state’s more than 30,000 inmates.
Now Washington is asking for a transfer out of state because he says he fears for his life among fellow disgruntled inmates who are angry about the smoking ban.