Smokes ban in prison is good

THERE are few issues that tend to inflame public opinion like the treatment of this country's prison population.

Fired up by populist-by-design statements from organisations such as Garth McVicar's Sensible Sentencing Trust, so-called "mainstream" New Zealand is normally quick to condemn the conditions in which our offenders are kept - but the condemnation almost always centres on accusations that our prisoners are being looked after too well, that their cells are furnished with flatscreen televisions, and most importantly that it's "our taxes" paying for it all.

The issue has been thrust back into the glare of public scrutiny again this week, with Corrections Minister Judith Collins confirming widely tipped plans to make prisons tobacco free.

Prime Minister John Key has already cited prisoners' access to lighters and second-hand smoke as reasons to impose a ban, and the prospect of such a crackdown is one which surely must already have Ms Collins licking her lips in anticipation - this, after all, is the minister who earned the weighty moniker of "Crusher" after legislating to have boy racers' vehicles crushed as a punishment for repeat offending.

However, the Green Party, the Howard League for Penal Reform and Rethinking Crime and Punishment have been quick to raise concerns over the idea, with their worries mainly centering on the need for extra help to be provided to inmates forced to quit and the possibility of increased problems with self-harm and violence.

The Corrections Association is also worried about the demands being placed on prison officers, who will be required to manage a prison population that in large part is dealing with nicotine withdrawal.

Now the idea of a smoking ban is to become reality, there's unlikely to be much public sympathy for prisoners who are forced to quit.

After all, it was their own transgressions that saw them locked up in the first place, and prisons are supposed to act both as punishment and as a deterrent to future offending.

There will, of course, need to be some provisions for offenders who are struggling with nicotine withdrawal - basic human rights cannot be ignored.

But it's also important to not lose perspective surrounding this issue.

The priority should be ensuring our prison officers are kept safe from any risk posed by prisoners going through the withdrawal process.

Prison officers already work in one of the country's most dangerous and demanding jobs, and we need to ensure that risk is not amplified.

As for the prison populace, there's little doubt that many of them will struggle with the process of forcibly coming off cigarettes while stuck behind bars.

It won't be easy, but the prospect of having to quit the cigarettes may prove to be enough to keep some potential offenders out of trouble.

And that can only be a good thing.