Target date to be set for smoke-free Scottish prisons
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A target date for entirely smoke-free prisons will be announced by the Scottish Prison Service at the launch of a major report into the exposure of prison workers to second-hand smoke.
The now-completed Tobacco in Prison Study (TIPS) was led by Glasgow University with input from Aberdeen University.
It follows 2015 research showing that 72 per cent of people in custody in Scotland are smokers, far higher than the general population.
The smoking ban introduced in 2006 does not apply to prisons.
Phil Fairlie, chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association Scotland, told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “Our members have claimed and argued all along, since the smoking ban was introduced, that they are constantly exposed to very high levels of smoking inside prisons.
“This survey, for the first time provides data to back up that claim and the concern that’s been raised by staff throughout those years.”