Scottish prisoners have received over 7,500 vaping kits since a nationwide ban on smoking in the country’s prisons went into effect in November of last year. These vape kits have already cost the Scottish Prisoner Service (SPS) over $125,000.
The vape kits were distributed to inmates by SPS prior to the prison smoking ban going into effect. According to the SPS, the total cost of the vape kits for inmates is expected to cost roughly $190,000.
SPS spokesperson Tom Fox was quoted by BBC as having said that the vape kit scheme is “a very positive step for the well-being of the people in our care and the people who work for us.”
“It’s a very positive step for the well-being of the people in our care and the people who work for us.”
Fox added that he believes that it’s “money well spent” and that the health benefits for both inmates and prison staff “greatly outweigh any initial cost” of introducing the program.
“I think it’s money well spent. The health benefits for our staff and those in our care greatly outweigh any initial cost we have introducing the program.”
According to the Scottish Prisoner Service, prison air quality across the nation has risen by average of 80 percent since the ban on smoking went into effect in November.
A female inmate at HMP Edinburgh told BBC Scotland that there has “not been a lot of trouble, or anything like that, since the smoking ban came in, which you would expect” and the reason for this is “the fact we have had the vapes.”
She added that were there not vapes, “there would have been all sorts of trouble” as a result of the ban on smoking.
“If we didn’t have the vapes, there would have been all sorts of trouble.”
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