Federal inmates fight smoking ban
Case goes before Federal Court this week
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 13, 2009 | 11:30 AM ET
CBC News
A group of inmates is challenging a ban on smoking inside and on the property of federal prisons that was implemented in May 2008.
The case is scheduled to go before a Federal Court judge on Wednesday.
Dale Tremblay, who was a pack-a-day smoker before Corrections Canada banned smoking at the Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines institution, north of Montreal, says the ban is unfair.
"You were jonesing after your meals, you always had to do something to get your mind off it," said Tremblay, who was released in August after serving an eight-year sentence.
Inmates in federal prisons have been prohibited from smoking since May 2008. (Andre J. Jackson / Detroit Free Press / Associated Press )Tremblay headed an inmate's committee that contacted human rights lawyer Julius Grey.
Tremblay said the ban has prompted some prisoners to sell smuggled cigarettes to fellow inmates at a premium.
"It's crazy," said Tremblay. "When guys do find a way to bring in tobacco, they're selling it $6 apiece ... when you're an inmate and your earning tops 50 bucks in two weeks."
Ban necessary, union says
Banning smoking altogether is heavy-handed, said Grey.
"If it remains a legal, a lawful form of conduct, then there's a limit to how far we can go to make people's lives miserable," Grey said.
The ban was necessary to protect the health of prisoners and staff, said Lyle Stewart, spokesman for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
Though Stewart acknowledges the ban has created a black market for tobacco, he said it has not created the angry reaction from inmates that corrections officers expected.
"Remarkably, we have not seen any incidents that we could put down to someone going through tobacco withdrawal," said Stewart.
While inmates at provincial jails in Quebec can still smoke outside the building, smoking is not permitted on the property of federal institutions.
