Tobacco Money to Help Inmates Quit

Source from:  tennessean.com 12/15/07 12/17/2007

Tennessee prison officials still see tobacco-related contraband coming into their system regularly, even though prisons were smoke-free as of March. That's why the Tennessee Department of Correction is using $10,000 worth of tobacco settlement money to pay the American Lung Association of Tennessee to implement a systemwide smoking cessation program. "It's the right thing to do for the taxpayers, for quality of life for staff and the inmates,'' Corrections Commissioner George Little said. The program will offer classes in behavior modification for inmates and prison staff. Participants will have access to education materials at prison libraries and online. The program recommends coupling those resources with pharmaceutical assistance, so medicated lozenges will be provided, said Margaret Smith, American Lung Association of Tennessee's director of lung health programs. The Department of Correction has not secured funding to continue the program after the initial grant money runs out, but Little said he is committed to finding a way to do so, as it will likely take several years to assess its effect. The department spends just under $59 million each year on health care for its 19,500 prisoners, or about $4,000 per inmate. Enditem