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February 2015

Electronic Cigarettes in Jails: A Panacea or Public Health Problem?

Author Affiliations
  • 1Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California
  • 2now with Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, California
  • 3Department of Public Safety, Honolulu, Hawaii
  • 4John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu
JAMA Psychiatry. 2015;72(2):103-104. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2224

CrossBar electronic cigarettes, sold in Corrections Orange, regular, and menthol varieties, are touted as being the “ONLY electronic cigarette designed by a jailer specifically for use in correctional facilities.”1 Transparent packaging is coming soon. JailCigs ships only to US detention centers, declaring exemption from tobacco bans. Precision Vapor sells electronic cigarettes “designed for institutional use,” with plans to produce “a top quality cigarette that achieves unparalleled success in jail after jail” and prisons in all 50 states, with calculated sales of $9 per inmate daily2 or $328 500 for 100 inmates annually.

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