MONTANA PRISON STILL CALM A WEEK AFTER TOBACCO BAN

HELENA, Mont. -- It sounds like a recipe for trouble. Ban all forms of
tobacco in a prison where 80 percent of the more than 1,200 inmates and
half the guards smoke or chew tobacco.

But a week after the total ban started at the State Prison in Deer Lodge,
officials said last week, there had been no trouble.

``It's a little early,'' said the warden, Mike Mahoney. ``We probably don't
have all of the tobacco out of the institution. As we do shakedowns and
find stashes, we might start seeing more withdrawal.''

Some inmates said tensions had increased. ``As with most addicts, the first
day or two you cut them off it's OK,'' said Greg Jellison, who has been
serving a sentence for robbery for 12 years. ``But things are starting to
get a little nasty. The guards are nitpicking.''

Over several months, officials had gradually reduced the number of
cigarettes inmates could buy at the canteen. Starting on Jan. 1, no tobacco
was sold, and inmates were supposed to turn in personal caches.

``We didn't provide any nicotine gum or nicotine patches,'' said a
Corrections Department spokesman, Mike Cronin. ``But we did provide
counseling, and that seems to have kept trouble from brewing.''

The prison physician, Dr. Robert D. Jones, said the prisoners could expect
it to be six to eight weeks before overcoming withdrawal symptoms.

The Montana ban is part of a national trend toward tobacco-free prisons.
California, Florida, Maryland, Texas, Vermont and Utah are among the states
with varying prohibitions on smoking in prison.

The primary reason, officials say, is economic. Because the justice system
is handing down longer sentences and the prison population is growing
larger and older, health costs are increasing.

Another factor is a growing number of inmates' suits against the
authorities, contending that they had suffered from exposure to secondhand
smoke.

But smoking continues in places, and some prison officials say money that
inmates would have spent on illicit drugs is being used to buy tobacco, in
effect creating a black market for cigarettes.

Banning cigarettes in prisons has not been easy. In Vermont, officials
instituted a ban on all tobacco in 1992 and then partly rolled that back,
allowing smoking outside.

``It's difficult for people who haven't been able to conform to the basic
rules of society, with negative reinforcement, to give up something they're
addicted to,'' said Michael O'Malley, director of security and operations
for the Vermont Corrections Department.

Vermont relented, he said, because prisoners ``were picking up disciplinary
reports and being put into higher levels of custody for essentially smoking
in the boys' room.''

``The largest number of people in maximum custody were there for smoking,''
O'Malley said.

Inmates can possess cigarettes, but not matches and lighters, which have to
be kept outside.

Texas, which banned smoking in 1995, has stuck to a hard line. Officials
maintain a complete ban.

That does not mean that the institutions are smoke free. Cigarettes are
contraband, with a single cigarette selling for as much $5 or $1 for a
couple of puffs. Inmates smoke on the sly, with one prisoner standing next
to an air vent while another watches for guards, in return for a few puffs.

Texas has had one disturbance over the policy. ``It occurred over which
gang would control tobacco,'' said a spokesman for the Criminal Justice
Department, Larry Fitzgerald. ``Tobacco has become very valuable.''

Banning smoking also means that the prison workers have to comply. In
Montana, around 200 employees at the prison, including guards, signed a
petition against the smoking ban, concerned that it would threaten
security.

Extending the ban to employees is ``the only legitimate way to do it in
this kind of environment,'' Mahoney said. ``Staff will need to be counseled
and advised.''

One inmate, Dennye Harris, predicted that there would be problems in a
month or two. ``That's when all the tobacco will be gone,'' Harris said.
``There will be a lot more confrontations. Right now, when stress builds,
people walk away and have a cigarette as a way of calming down. I was
addicted to PCP, and kicking PCP was nothing compared to cigarettes.''

Harris, who has been an inmate for 12 years, said he quit smoking four
months ago.

Some inmates said they were nervous about the potential effects of the ban.
``Inmates are talking about having sitdowns,'' said Jellison, who added
that he did not smoke.

``Most people get killed in this prison over stupid things,'' Jellison
said. ``It would be a real shame if someone lost their life over a
cigarette.''