[Praxius]

Quote by: Chancellor When the prisoners became the custody of the state. I don't want increased taxes, dropped advertising, restricted sales, etc. The logic is that prisoners are prisoners - they're being punished for committing crimes. I have disdain for criminals regardless of whether they're in jail. And, no, I don't think they should be allowed to have anything beyond their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. Their rights do not extend to being allowed to feed their addictions. Based on your argument, they should also be allowed to have alcohol, cocaine, PCP, etc. in prison. It's bad enough they're allowed to feed their caffeine addiction. Drinking alcohol is also legal, why not let them have alcohol in prison? They're prisoners: being in prison isn't supposed to be comfortable. Goodness, even on Navy ships there are times when smoking is not allowed: why should prisoners be allowed something some of our sailors in uniform aren't? I really don't give a rat's behind about their addictions (by the way, your argument could also be applied to caffeine). Yes, let's remove the televisions, get rid of the lounges, and put them to work. All the more reason to make it difficult for them: the deterrent factor. Then again, I think that instead of throwing people in prison for relatively minor things, we should employ the Singaporean practice of caning.

In response to all that, Fair enough.... you seem to have consistant priorities.... where you say they shouldn't have any of the above because they are prisoners and should be put to work..... it would be an additional deterrent for some to commit crimes..... however I would also like to point out something which I will also address with the above comment above yours:

Laws against smoking might not qualify as "basic human necessities," either.

True, smoking isn't really a right.... but if you're gonna haul away something someone has been smoking since perhaps their teens, don't you feel there is an obligation to have some kind of system in place to help reduce their addicted tendancies while they can not smoke?

Quote from the Original Article:

Bernheim said prisoners could be enticed to quit smoking while behind bars, but that would mean providing drugs and counselling. "We need to make a lot of resources, and they need money for that, and the government doesn't want to put money in prisons."

There are already programs and such in the jails for kicking heavy drug use that could have attributed to the crime they are in prison for.... but since there are not many serious crimes relating to smoking, it's kinda a loophole for assistance if you ask me.