Prisoners are smoking smuggled nicotine patches like cigarettes.
So far this year, about $ 72,000 in nicotine patches have been confiscated at Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick alone, according to Canadian Correctional Service (CSC) press releases.
“Entry of nicotine patches is not allowed [federal] institutions, as they are marketed raw materials, ”CSC spokeswoman Shelley Lawrence said.
“Inmates will wrap them in paper and smoke them like cigarettes,” he confirmed in a statement sent by email.
Nicotine patches are designed to slowly deliver nicotine to the body using a small adhesive on the skin to help quit smoking. They are available in different concentrations, so people can gradually reduce their desires and their body’s dependence on nicotine, according to Health Canada.
Lawrence said inmates cut the smuggled nicotine patches into strips, which are then wrapped in paper, “usually accompanied by tea leaves,” instead of tobacco.
Some other jurisdictions have reported that inmates encourage smuggled patches introduced first in steam or microwave to remove nicotine and then mix it with tea leaves or orange peel. Sometimes the patches are boiled with tea leaves, which are then dried before being rolled up, officials have said.
It is not intended to be ingested
This type of misuse carries “a number of dangers,” according to Barbara Walls, a retired nurse and director of health programs at the New Brunswick Lung Association.
She points out that nicotine patches are designed to be slow release and have different strengths.
“They are not intended to be ingested in any way and the rapid inhalation of high doses of nicotine can cause serious or fatal consequences.”
These could include nicotine poisoning, sometimes called nic-illness or overdose, Walls said.
Nicotine patches have several strengths that are designed to help you quit using doses released over time.
Some of the first symptoms could include nausea or vomiting; increased heart rate and blood pressure; fast, heavy breathing; dizziness or tremors; confusion and anxiety, according to Walls. Subsequent symptoms may include diarrhea, extreme fatigue, and weakness.
A patch designed for the first phase of withdrawal typically contains 21 milligrams of nicotine, which is supposed to be released slowly over 24 hours.
According to the Atlantic Canada Poison Center, the estimated minimum oral dose of nicotine for adults is 40 to 60 milligrams, although “most reported fatalities involve ingesting much larger amounts.” said spokesman Ben Maycock.
He said smoking a cigarette, which contains between 13 and 30 mg of nicotine, usually causes the absorption of about one or two milligrams.
Barbara Walls, director of health programs for the New Brunswick Lung Association, said “the biggest concern is the amount of nicotine that is inhaled directly into the bloodstream.” (Submitted by Barbara Walls)
“If a patch contains 21 mg of nicotine, this is not much different from a cigarette. It is intended to be delivered in 24 hours by the skin. But if you smoke it and if it behaves in the same way as a cigarette, you would absorb approximately “1-2 mg of nicotine,” Maycock said in an emailed statement.
“I don’t know if there are additional dangers of smoking nicotine patches,” he added.
Walls noted that “inhalation is the fastest delivery route of any drug” because it goes directly into the bloodstream.
The other concern, he said, is that “burning the patch material and inhaling it is, in itself, potentially harmful to the lungs.”
‘Isolated incidents of misuse’ in provincial prisons
When asked if nicotine patches are also smoked in provincial prisons, a spokesman for the New Brunswick Department of Justice and Public Safety did not answer the question directly.
Judy Désalliers said provincial prisons have been smoke-free since 2004 and nicotine patches are not offered as an alternative.
Provincial inmates used to purchase patches to quit smoking through the criminals ’dining room. “However, this option was suspended due to isolated incidents of misuse,” Désalliers said, without giving further details, in a statement sent by email.
He did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.
“Offenders requesting cessation alternatives are evaluated by our medical teams and offered alternatives to nicotine patches,” he added.
Traffickers could face criminal charges
Smoking has been banned in all federal prisons since 2008. Inmates received patches of nicotine for the first six months to relieve their physical withdrawal symptoms. After that, they could pull out nicotine gum through the offender’s canteen.
Because nicotine patches are legal in the community, they are classified as “an unauthorized item” in prisons, Lawrence said.
Earlier this month, a package containing 70 patches of nicotine was confiscated from the Dorchester Penitentiary’s average security unit “as a result of surveillance by staff members,” according to a press release.
Lawrence did not respond to a request for more information about the incident.
There have been a number of nicotine patch seizures in the Dorchester Penitentiary’s average security unit. (CBC News)
If a visitor is caught trying to wear nicotine patches, their visits would be suspended, pending a review, he said.
“There could be legal charges, if the patches are contaminated with another substance.”
Offenders caught with nicotine patches “may be subject to institutional charges for possession of unauthorized items, and this is reflected in an incident report,” Lawrence said.
Incident reports can affect an offender’s security requirements, he added.
Almost 30 times the retail value
The estimated total institutional value of the June 6 confiscation was $ 12,000, according to the statement. That’s $ 171.43 per patch.
In comparison, a pack of seven patches retails for about $ 41, or $ 5.86 each.
The Correctional Service of Canada does not have a standard list of institutional values for smuggled and / or unauthorized items, “because the values change according to a variety of factors,” Lawrence said. In general, smuggled and / or unauthorized items have a greater monetary value within an institution than in the community, Lawrence said.
Institutional value is based on “multiple factors, but is determined primarily through the intelligence information gathered on the site,” he said.
“The values of each institution will vary, as they depend on trends in regional or local jurisdiction, including the prices of medicines (if drugs were confiscated), as well as the level of security of an institution. This means that the values they can change on a regular basis “.
A single patch costs about $ 6 (sold in packs of 7), but in prison, that price jumps to about $ 170. (CBC)
On May 27, Dorchester staff confiscated 110 patches of nicotine with an estimated institutional value of $ 19,000 from the average security unit, which is qualified to house up to 397 criminals.
Between April 26 and 28, 176 patches of nicotine worth an estimated $ 31,000 were confiscated from the same unit.
And on January 13, 50 patches of nicotine for an estimated $ 10,000 were confiscated.
All cases were being investigated by the prison, according to press releases.
“Strengthen measures to prevent smuggling”
“CSC is stepping up measures to prevent smuggling and unauthorized items from entering its institutions, in order to help ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone,” Lawrence said in his email statement.
“CSC continues to investigate and introduce new technologies as they become available to better facilitate the detection of contraband and unauthorized items,” he said.
“CSC is also working in collaboration with the police to take action against those who try to introduce these articles in penitentiary institutions,” he added.