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ABOUT 300 PRISONERS at an Australian prison rioted after authorities attempted to bring in a smoking ban.
Police were forced to storm Melbourne’s Metropolitan Remand Centre and fire tear gas as prisoners resisted the state-wide ban which came into force yesterday.
It’s estimated that 80% of the state’s inmates are smokers and they have been unable to buy cigarettes for the last three weeks.
The state insists that they’ve introduced quit programmes and nicotine patches but some inmates had threatened to go on hunger strike over the smoking ban.
Prisoners used sticks to break windows and set fires across the campus before tactical police stormed the prison.
Staff were evacuated during the riot which went on throughout the day.
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If they can’t keep drugs out fags won’t work.
Street, there’s no smoke without fire or riots
The chap on the wheelie chair is having the time of his life
To go on hunger strike because you can’t smoke is beyond mad
For crying out loud Ireland might be the Nanny State capital of Europe but we don’t hold a candle to the Australians who are the undisputed world leaders in Nanny Statism.
So true William,so true!
Whatever happened to personal responsibility and personal choices Shane without been dictated to by some moral superior do gooders?, if some of them had their way Ireland would be a country full of dead men/women walking.
And believe me Ireland the nanny state is far from finished. Probably have a designated lump of rock off the west coast for anyone who wants to smoke such has been the never ending relentless assault on smokers, and it seems those of us who also like to partake in alcohol are next in line for more nanny state rules and regulations.
And they banned GTA over there!
Oh and don’t forget to eat responsibly Shane, check every label on the supermarket shelf for hidden sugars, saturated fats and preservatives, or better still don’t venture past the organic shelves and never bring your children or grandchildren for a treat to your nearest McDonalds for fear of them becoming like the Michelin Man.
Nanny statism?
These are convicted criminals who deserve little to no rights, not the general public.
The ban is justified. Why should law abiding prison officers have to inhale the smoke from some cons? I would like the government to go further and ban sugar products, exercise equipment etc from prisons. Make hard time exactly that!
I think prison officers like bar staff have been exposed to passive smoke or second hand smoke whatever you want to call it for donkeys years, care to give me any evidence that there has been mass incidents of prison officers or bar staff dying of lung cancer or other so called smoking related diseases Alan?.
Or is it that this second hand smoke hysteria is nothing but one big giant lie pedaled by the fanatics that make up the anti smoking lobby.
Try as they might they’ve not once come up with one convincing study to back up their hysterical claims.
Ireland has been slowly venturing down the oz path the last decade or so William. The full smoking ban was actually implemented here before Aus. In general though, Ireland and Europe do not yet touch the sides of the democratic police state that is modern day Australia. It wasn’t always thus,the journey began in the mid 80s
Ignoring the health risks for one moment, who wants to smell another individual’s smoke or have their clothes contaminated by such a stench?
And evidence? Sure. British medical journal The Lancet published their findings regarding passive smoking and declared that ”603,000 deaths were attributable to second-hand smoke in 2004, which was about 1·0% of worldwide mortality.”
http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61388-8/abstract
No studies i could find focused specifically on prison officers but whats the need? Passive smoking is detrimental to ones health no matter what whether those inhaling be someone waiting at a bus stop, a barman or a prison officer.
Fair enough Alan,ban smoking then! It’s either legal or it’s not! If it’s legal there should be designated areas for it,even in prisons. Nicotine is an extremely addictive substance. Governments are happy to accept the revenue that comes from the huge taxes placed on this drug. How can it be legal and banned at the same time? They say they don’t profit and that the taxes all go on healthcare to treat smoking related illnesses. Yeah right,pull the other one!
Yeah Shane any Aussie I came across which was incidentally back in the said 80′s were all happy go lucky carefree types often with a little hint of arrogance, which is why it surprises me that Australia has turned into the worlds leading Nanny state?.
Alan, do you believe everything you read?.
“Smokers are not anything like junkies or alcoholics or prostitutes… They are far, far worse… They share their poison with everyone within breathing vicinity… Smokers are alone among the degenerates of society.”–Andrea Peysner, The New York Post
http://www.banthebanmichigan.com/why_thescience.html
Great article see link above if you and other fanatical anti smokers care to read it Alan?, some great quotes in it like the one from that idiot Peysner above.
William,Australia loves to ban,fine and levy stuff. I have plenty of friends who have returned home after years in the uk or ireland. It takes a fair bit of adjustment. Do not dare go 1 km over the speed limit. Trying to hang onto your points is a losing battle. Cameras everywhere. Some people will say don’t speed then! Fair enough,drive there for a year and see how you get on.. The fines are astronomical as well. That’s only one example
Hitler was a veg eating anti alcohol anti smoking freak and see where this led him to…he became a hate monger much like the modern day screwballs of Isis
The U.S. Started implementing a smoking ban in many prisons years ago. One of the (positive?) effects was that there was such a strong black market for cigarettes that smuggling in drugs decreased! Why sell heroin when you can profit as well from cigarettes?
Prison must be boring as hell,why not let them smoke in designated areas? Either society outlaws smoking altogether or allows for it. Governments are addicted to the revenue
A few slaps of the cat o nine tails and bread and water for a few days now that would sort out them villains.
Can you imagine if Ireland decided the smoking ban in prisons, when you think that they can’t even stop the drugs coming in.
Von it was considered by the Dept of Justice wisely decided not to implement a smoking ban in prisons where the inmates have few choices about where they might smoke. Take away any choice at all in an environment where you have few opportunities to make any choice at all and you have a riot.
I think it’s the lesser of evils to allow them to smoke. It helps to keep a lid on their volatility.
If they want to smoke then shoot them in the head, its a better more humane way for them to die than most smoking related illnesses like lung cancer. Have them sign a waiver that if they are diagnosed with these illnesses that the prison system will not have any obligation to treat the illness at massive expense to the taxpayer.
I wonder what John Longigan will say about this? poor prisoners given them everything they want, it’s not their fault they’re in prison. This is proper order if it’s a state wide ban why should society’s sc u m be treated different.
From the video it looks a very peaceful and quite riot
Go to prison and lose some of your luxuries. Sounds about right. Wish they would implement something like that here.
Crikey!!
Good job brax got out when he did!.
Bacoxy.. You have a wonderful mind.
The guy on the office chair looks like he’s having the time of his life!
Pfff – that riot looks staged.
Craig Butt ….he he
#straya
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