JACKSON, Miss. — The head of Mississippi’s prison system says inmates will be allowed to smoke, starting Feb. 1 — a move designed to break the trade in contraband tobacco that’s smuggled inside.
Smoking has been banned for a decade in the state’s 21 prisons and other facilities, but Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain said in a news release Wednesday that some inmates have been lighting up, anyway.
“They’re having to smuggle in tobacco to do it, which is illegal, and it’s even more illegal because state law prohibits smoking in state buildings,” Cain said.
Deputy Commissioner Jay Mallett said inmates have been paying up to $500 a pound for smuggled tobacco, and those caught smoking have lost the chance for early release.