Canada to impose strict smoking ban in all prisons

Decision aims to improve the health of prisoners, staff and visitors

OTTAWA: Canada will ban all smoking in federal prisons next year to improve the health of prisoners, staff and visitors, the government said on Wednesday.

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) said a total ban would be brought in by April 30, 2008. An indoor smoking ban has been in place since January 2006 but prison staff complained the rule was being ignored.

CSC commissioner Keith Coulter said he wanted to “provide a healthy working and living environment for staff, offenders, visitors and contractors” and stressed the need to eliminate second hand smoke.

“CSC will offer assistance to those who wish to quit smoking  before the ban,” he said in  a statement. Canada has  58 federal correctional facilities.

Pierre Mallette, who heads the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said his members had been demanding a total ban for years. “We’ve long known that second-hand smoke is a killer,” he said in a separate statement.

Last year the Conservative government -- which won power in part by promising to crack down on crime -- scrapped a pilot program that provided tattoos for prisoners in an effort to stop the spread of diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS.