THE PRISON JOURNAL / June 2001Lankenau / CIGARETTES IN U.S. PRISONS SMOKE ’EM IF YOU GOT ’EM: CIGARETTE BLACK MARKETS IN U.S. PRISONS AND JAILS

Since the mid-1980s, cigarette-smoking policies have become increasingly restrictive in jails and prisons across the United States. Cigarette black markets of various form and scale often emerge in jails and prisons where tobacco is prohibited or banned. Case studies of 16 jails and prisons were undertaken to understand the effects of ciga-rette bans versus restrictions on inmate culture and prison economies. This study describes how bans can transform largely benign cigarette “gray markets, ” where cigarettes are used as a currency, into more problematic black markets, where ciga-rettes are a highly priced commodity. Analysis points to several structural factors that affected the development of cigarette black markets in the visited facilities: the archi-tectural design, inmate movement inside and outside, officer involvement in smug-gling cigarettes to inmates, and officer vigilance in enforcing the smoking policy. Although these factors affect the influx of other types of contraband into correctional facilities, such as illegal drugs, this study argues that the demand and availability of cigarettes creates a unique kind of black market. Since the mid-1980s, cigarette-smoking policies have become increas-ingly restrictive in jails and prisons across the United States. Currently, two thirds of U.S. jails and one quarter of U.S. prisons ban inmates from smoking cigarettes or possessing tobacco (Falkin, Strauss, & Lankenau, 1998, 1999). In institutions where bans are enforced, inmates are prohibited from smokin