Prisoners to lose right to smoke next year

Smoking is to be banned in all Scottish prisons by the end of 2018, the Scottish Prison Service has announced.

Prisons are among the few places exempted from the ban, operating since 2006, on smoking in workplaces and enclosed public places, but the SPS is now acting following research into the level of exposure of staff and prisoners to secondhand smoke, which are broadly equivalent to that of someone who lives with a smoker.

Measures such as making prisoners closde their cell doors to light up have proved ineffective, the SPS said, and by next year tobacco sales will be ended and rules changed to ban smoking completely.

Prison reform bodies suggested that the risks were exaggerated, and expressed concerns over a possible increase in violence and encouraging an illegal trade in tobacco. A higher percentage of prisoners are smokers than in the general population.

Peter Dawson, director of the Prison Reform Trust, commented: "A sensible and considered approach to smoking in prisons would leave prisioners with a choice at least to smoke outside.

"If this is not part of the Scottish Government's plans, there has to be proper support while people give up – not just smoking cessation aids, but increased vigilance for signs of distress that could easily turn into self harm or worse."