Cook County Jail: A breath of fresh air...

gassy · 08-01-2005, 02:27 PM

Prisoners at Cook County Jail here in Chicago can no longer smoke as of today...No patches, no nicotine gum, nothing. My hat goes off to the guards there.

lendaddy · 08-01-2005, 02:43 PM

They can't keep crack out of prison, good luck with squares. Don't get me wrong, it's good policy. I'm just saying the people who will gain most are the guards that will sell singles.

bell · bell's Garage

smokes are like cash in the pokey.......at least that's what i hear

gr8fl4porsche · gr8fl4porsche's Garage

I believe the correct term for a 'single' smoke is 'loosey'

makaio · 08-01-2005, 06:24 PM

I work with CA inmates, as part of the States inmate fire crews. The same law was passed back in January, and went into effect 1 month ago. It sounds like a reall good idea, but all it has done is created another item on thier black market list. As of two weeks ago, a can of smoking tobacco was going for $100. The same can you can buy at a liquor store for $7. A can of chewing tobacco is now going for $30, the same can you can buy for $5 in a store. By this time next year, they expect a can of smoking tobacco to be going for $400-500.

The biggest problem is the corrupt few that smuggle it in for them and then sell it to the inmates for a profit. And as Lenndaddy said they have everything illegal in there already. One of my inmates told me it's easier to get any drug you want on the inside of prison, than on the streets, it just cost more.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by makaio
The biggest problem is the corrupt few that smuggle it in for them and then sell it to the inmates for a profit.

Well, that goes a long way to explaining the 30" spinners on your fire engine, and the shiny new GT2 in your driveway.

ronin · 08-02-2005, 07:54 AM

so suffice it to say that there is a strong possibility of said jail having a mass riot in the near future...

...followed by a mass insanity plea

techweenie · techweenie's Garage

There are plenty of medical professionas that will tell you tobacco is harder to kick than heroin.

Which means things are going to be even more ugly in jail. But you know, that may amount to another deterrent. Not every inmate has the money for black market substances.

ronin · 08-02-2005, 08:33 AM

but they all have the ass

Superman · 08-02-2005, 08:56 AM

Some of the regulations placed on an otherwise "free" market have the effect of reducing profits. Capitalists hate these.

Some of the regulations (like this one, and the laws that define certain drugs as "illicit," as two examples) have the effect of increasing profits. Capitalists like these regulations.

In jails as in free society, the number of folks who "pay" is far greater than the number of folks who "collect." It's the American Way.

Jeff Higgins · 08-02-2005, 10:29 AM

I have always had a particularly hard time with folks like prison guards breaking the law. This is another opportunity and temptation for them to do so. When easily obtainable items that are legal on the outside become contiband on the inside is does nothing but contibute to this problem. Never mind the inmates; what happens to the people that supply otherwise legal "contiband"? Is the punishment serious enough to be any kind of deterent?

ronin · 08-02-2005, 10:49 AM

contiband?

oooh... contraband

cstreit · cstreit's Garage

...imagine an entire prison going through a nicotine fit... Glad I don't work there.

campbellcj · 08-02-2005, 08:49 PM

Isn't it ludicrous to consider anti-smoking laws as "unenforceable?"

Gimme a break...you're inside a prison building. You see/smell smoke; walk towards it, busted!

Just basically reinforces the concept of crooked guards if they can't enforce these rules. Not like I'd want to be anywhere near there myself...

makaio · 08-09-2005, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by widebody911
Well, that goes a long way to explaining the 30" spinners on your fire engine, and the shiny new GT2 in your driveway.

The GT2 would be nice, but I like my job and would never consider it.

The reason CA passed the law is to reduce the health care and long term care cost to the state. This last week there was 2 stabbings that were tobacco related. One of them ended with an inmate loosing his life.

Oh, and a can of tobacco is up to $350 as of yesterday.

yellowline · 08-09-2005, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Oh, and a can of tobacco is up to $350 as of yesterday. [/B]

How do the inmates affford it? I hate to stereotype, but let's face it. Prisoners and criminals tend to be on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum.

alf · 08-09-2005, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by makaio

Oh, and a can of tobacco is up to $350 as of yesterday.

OK silly question, having never been to prison in this country, how does money get in and out of prisons? Guards? Visitors? Mail? Are inmates allowed to have cash?

alf

makaio · 08-09-2005, 05:32 PM

The inmates are not allowed to have cash in thier possesion. From what I have been told, they usually have a contact on the outside, that wires the money to the mule or gives cash to someone, and then that person ( in most cases a visitor ) smuggles it in. Then once they have the item, they either trade it for things they posses, tatoo work, food, or have a similar cash transfer on the outside, to someone they trust.

I'm not a prison gaurd, just a fire captain that takes inmate firefighters to fires. So I get my info from the Correctional Officers.