achtungbaby
01-27-2004, 02:09 PM
Some lawmakers hope the bill will be amended to include provisions for helping inmates kick the habit. The Senate OKs 17 Davis appointments.
SACRAMENTO — Eighty thousand smokers in California's prisons would have to quit abruptly under a bill the Assembly passed Monday despite protests from some Democrats that smokers should be offered nicotine patches and other substitutes to ease the pain of withdrawal.
Bill supporters showed little concern as they voted to ban smoking in prison.
Just one simple thing you need to remember," said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa (R-Richvale). "It's prison!"
The Assembly also passed two bills targeting prominent Democratic campaign consultant Richie Ross, who also works as a registered lobbyist representing unions, Indian tribes and other interests seeking to influence legislation. The bills would ban campaign consultants from lobbying lawmakers and other elected officials with whom they have had a business relationship in the previous six months.
All the bills now go to the Senate.
Democrats and Republicans alike embraced the prison ban on all tobacco products, AB 384, by Assemblyman Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City). Leslie argued that because all of California's county jails and state prison reception centers ban tobacco use, anyone sent to state prison typically has gone weeks without smoking.
Half the state's 160,000 prisoners smoke, he said, and getting them to quit could pare hundreds of millions of dollars from the nearly $1 billion a year that taxpayers spend on prison healthcare.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Heimrich said that California prison inmates tend to be about 10 years older physiologically than they are chronologically because of unhealthy lifestyles.
"Healthcare is expensive and everybody knows that smoking contributes to heart disease, emphysema, all sorts of things," Heimrich said, "and, as we have an aging population, prevention becomes more important.
"Smoking is one of those things we can actually target."
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) voted for the bill but said he wished Leslie would amend it in the Senate to offer inmates nicotine patches or some other help quitting.
"I've seen a number of people in my family and others who have smoked and tried to kick the habit, and it's incredibly difficult to do, and it can lead to a lot of negative side effects for a week or two or three," Levine said.
Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) had the same concern. She voted against the bill, as did Patty Berg (D-Eureka), Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg) and Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). It passed 64 to 4, with 12 lawmakers not voting.
SACRAMENTO — Eighty thousand smokers in California's prisons would have to quit abruptly under a bill the Assembly passed Monday despite protests from some Democrats that smokers should be offered nicotine patches and other substitutes to ease the pain of withdrawal.
Bill supporters showed little concern as they voted to ban smoking in prison.
Just one simple thing you need to remember," said Assemblyman Doug La Malfa (R-Richvale). "It's prison!"
The Assembly also passed two bills targeting prominent Democratic campaign consultant Richie Ross, who also works as a registered lobbyist representing unions, Indian tribes and other interests seeking to influence legislation. The bills would ban campaign consultants from lobbying lawmakers and other elected officials with whom they have had a business relationship in the previous six months.
All the bills now go to the Senate.
Democrats and Republicans alike embraced the prison ban on all tobacco products, AB 384, by Assemblyman Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City). Leslie argued that because all of California's county jails and state prison reception centers ban tobacco use, anyone sent to state prison typically has gone weeks without smoking.
Half the state's 160,000 prisoners smoke, he said, and getting them to quit could pare hundreds of millions of dollars from the nearly $1 billion a year that taxpayers spend on prison healthcare.
Department of Corrections spokesman Russ Heimrich said that California prison inmates tend to be about 10 years older physiologically than they are chronologically because of unhealthy lifestyles.
"Healthcare is expensive and everybody knows that smoking contributes to heart disease, emphysema, all sorts of things," Heimrich said, "and, as we have an aging population, prevention becomes more important.
"Smoking is one of those things we can actually target."
Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) voted for the bill but said he wished Leslie would amend it in the Senate to offer inmates nicotine patches or some other help quitting.
"I've seen a number of people in my family and others who have smoked and tried to kick the habit, and it's incredibly difficult to do, and it can lead to a lot of negative side effects for a week or two or three," Levine said.
Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) had the same concern. She voted against the bill, as did Patty Berg (D-Eureka), Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg) and Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). It passed 64 to 4, with 12 lawmakers not voting.