At least in Danny Rodden’s jail they are. Though the rest of the Indiana county is ruled by a smoking ban, Sheriff Rodden sets the rules in the county jail.
Though the jail had been nonsmoking, Rodden began to allow smoking in the jail about a third of the way into his first term as sheriff last year.
When he became sheriff, there were “so many behavioral problems,” Rodden said. Not all prisoners are allowed to smoke, but inmates with good behavior are given the option…
The new jail allows inmates to choose whether they reside in a smoking or nonsmoking pod.
What a concept. It’s too bad our governments aren’t equally willing to treat ordinary people like the adults they are.
Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, bartender, cocktail consultant, and magician in Portland, Oregon. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in the print or online editions of The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Reason, The Oregonian, and other publications.
Danny Rodden is a good man. I’ve met him before. I’m from Clark County (presently in Va. Beach) and can tell you most of the smoking bans weren’t exactly thought out before they were enacted ’cause the city or the county wanted to please one group without considering the other. In Jeffersonville, there’s a woman who runs a kind of knick-knack store from her house, and because her house is also her business, she can’t smoke during business hours! It’s HER HOME! But the city says she can’t smoke in her home during the day! (Of course, she does anyway)