Prisoners are to be offered free nicotine patches to help them to deal with the stress of being driven to court after the Government’s smoking ban comes into force.

Withdrawal symptoms for inmates unable to smoke from the moment they leave their jail cell until their return late in the day could lead to outbreaks of trouble, according to an instruction from Prison Service headquarters to governors.

The free nicotine patches are part of new prison policies to deal with the smoking ban when it comes into force in England on July 1. Smoking will be banned in the vehicles taking inmates to court and in the cells underneath the courts.

Prisoners aged over 18 will be allowed to smoke in their jail cells which, for the purpose of the smoking ban, are to be regarded as the equivalent of an inmate’s home.

Prisoners aged under 18 are to be banned from smoking in youth jails, which will become entirely smoke-free, but White-hall has recognised that it would be almost impossible to ban smoking in jails holding adult offenders.

A smoking ban imposed in New York jails in 2003 has made cigarette smuggling so lucrative that a single smoke can command up to $20 from nicotine-starved inmates.

The complex arrangements for dealing with the effects of the ban on smoking in enclosed public places and workplaces highlights the dilemma facing the Prison Service. An estimated 80 per cent of prisoners smoke.

Staff will have to tell prisoners before they leave for court hearings that they will be unable to smoke until they return to their cell in the prison later in the day. “It will be beneficial to offer short-term nicotine replacement therapy, in the form of nicotine patches, to smoking prisoners who are required to attend court, as these prisoners will otherwise experience a period of nicotine withdrawal,” say the instructions.

“For heavier smokers, in particular, the withdrawal experienced may be quite severe, resulting in increased anxiety, stress and possible hostile or destructive behaviours.”

Prisoners are to be offered full strength 16-hour patches to help them on the day of a visit to court. The instruction adds: “Persons under 18 will not be permitted to smoke wherever they are located.”

There is also guidance on how the service should tackle concerns about passive smoking. Officers will not be required to enter a cell if they have observed that a prisoner is smoking. They can, however, instruct the prisoner to put out the cigarette and “where appropriate, open the window and vacate the cell”.

The instruction adds: “The prisoner and member of staff should wait until they are content that the cigarette smoke has dissipated to allow safe entry into the cells.

“Security searching can take place when staff are content that the smoke has dissipated sufficiently to sensibly allow safe entry.”

But the guidance makes clear that the instructions intended to deal with concerns over passive smoking do not override the duty for prison staff to intervene to protect prisoners or staff in immediate danger of harm.

A Home Office spokes-woman said that some establishments holding prisoners under 18 had already banned smoking.

Breathe easy

— Staff are to be banned from smoking throughout the prison system even though adult prisoners will be allowed to light up in their cells

— Concerns over passive smoking will not override officers’ duty to protect either prisoners or staff in immediate danger of harm

— Prisoners are to be offered full-strength 16-hour patches to help them on the day of a visit to court

— Inmates aged under 18 will not be permitted to smoke at any time

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