How These Jail Officials Profit From Selling E-Cigarettes to Inmates – By R.G. Dunlop (Mother Jones) / Feb 3 2020
Cash-strapped Kentucky jails made more than $1.3 million in 2018, overlooking health concerns.
This story was published originally by ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power, and the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, a member of the ProPublica Local Reporting Network. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published.
A Kentucky river city once rich in tobacco was grappling with growing concerns about the health risks of electronic cigarettes.
The former governor had already banned e-cigarettes in some state buildings, and lawmakers had prohibited selling them to anyone younger than 18.
So, in May 2017, city leaders in Henderson decided to add vaping to a more than decade-old ban on smoking in local government buildings and other public places.
The prohibition meant a loss of revenue for the Henderson County Detention Center, which purchased e-cigarettes and then resold them to inmates at triple or quadruple the wholesale price.
It also threatened a steady stream of business for the jail’s supplier, CrossBar Electronic Cigarettes. That posed a problem for Jamie Mosley, a jailer across the state who runs the Laurel County Correctional Center.
Continue to article: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2020/02/how-these-jail-officials-profit-from-selling-e-cigarettes-to-inmates/
