JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Cigarettes and other tobacco products will once again be legal in Mississippi’s prisons beginning Feb. 1. Officials at some facilities say they are already getting inundated with orders from inmates.
In December, Corrections Commissioner Burl Cain announced that smoking would become legal in Mississippi prisons. Smoking in prison was banned a decade ago. Cain said the change would decrease the amount of contraband being smuggled into prisons.
Revenue from tobacco sales will help fund the Department of Corrections’ re-entry program, which teaches parole-eligible men and women the skills needed for trades.
