Surreptitious smoking tough to stop behind bars

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Needs photo numbersTobacco isn't allowed in Washington's prisons, but that hasn't stopped some inmates from lighting up.System-wide statistics aren't available from the state's Department of Corrections, but cigarettes, loose tobacco, rolling papers and fire sources were some of the most frequently seized items at one Washington prison in 2007, a Tacoma News Tribune review of records found.Tobacco products were found and seized at least 127 times at McNeil Island Corrections Center in Steilacoom last year. That averages out to roughly one in every 10 inmates being caught with tobacco at the 1,300-man facility.It's definitely the inmates' "drug of choice," said McNeil Island prison superintendent Ron Van Boening. "There are more smokers than users of other kinds of drugs," he said.Smoking has gone underground since a 2004 statewide ban, making cigarettes and tobacco products a popular and lucrative form of contraband - and a headache for prison administrators. And the Steilacoom facility isn't alone in its problem, corrections officials say."I've remarked to my colleagues that we're experiencing Prohibition all over again," said Dick Morgan, state prisons administrator for Western Washington. "It's good social policy, but it brings with it some Eliot Ness challenges."Following a national trend, Washington's ban was aimed at saving taxpayers money on inmates' heath care costs.And while the illicit tobacco is relatively safe - no one is going to overdose on it or stab someone with it - it does create a security risk, like other items that are bought, sold and traded behind bars. If an inmate can't pay a debt, violence can follow. Officials point out that a $50 tobacco debt is no different than a $50 heroin debt.In Washington, like in other states that have banned tobacco, it quickly gained ascendancy as a contraband commodity.Because tobacco is both legal and readily available on the outside, visitors and even some staff members who would never think of sneaking in illegal drugs don't have the same compunction about bringing it in, Morgan said.A cigarette "can go for two, three, even 10 times more than what you'd pay for it on the street," McNeil's Van Boening saidKeeping all types of contraband out is a Sisyphean task for prison administrators everywhere."It's like mushrooms," said Colorado Springs, Colo.-based corrections consultant Thomas A. Rosazza. "They just grow. It's a universal problem."There's no baseline or right level of contraband, he said. It depends on how worried officials at each facility are and what kinds of fallout they're seeing."As a warden, I'd rather have a tobacco problem than a drug problem," Rosazza said.According to Rosazza, the two best ways to cut down on contraband are to routinely search cells, which McNeil staff does, and to search employees, which the prison doesn't.McNeil employees, however, are subject to random searches when boarding the ferry that brings them to the island. If employees know they're going to be searched, it can help them resist being pressured to smuggle something, Rosazza said.According to the prison records, cigarettes are not the only hot item behind McNeil's bars.What else is hot behind bars at McNeil Island prison, according to the records? -- Steel wool was a hot item, seized at least 39 times. Like pencil lead, it can be used to create a spark for lighting up. -- Tattoo guns and/or paraphernalia were seized at least 11 times. -- Illegal drugs or possible drugs, aside from various pills, were seized 18 times, records show. They included marijuana, balloons filled with unknown substances, white powders and pruno, a type of home-brewed prison booze." -- Weapons or potential weapons were seized at least 34 times. They included razor blades, sharpened pieces of metal, plastic and wood, a 3-foot "sword," and two 9 mm bullets.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)