Electronic cigarettes have become a social currency in UK prisons, with inmates spending over £7 million annually on them, according to data. Spending has been increasing every year since a smoking ban was implemented in prisons in England and Wales in 2019.
Prison reform organisations have said that inmates, who spend long hours in their cells without healthy activities, are turning to e-cigarettes. In the last financial year, inmates spent £7.7 million on e-cigarettes, the highest in three years.
British American Tobacco and Manchester-based Supreme Imports Ltd were named as suppliers of the products in data published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). E-cigarettes were introduced in prisons in 2015 to help inmates quit smoking.
