AUPE complaint leads to ban on nicotine patches in provincial jails
EDMONTON – Thanks to an initiative by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, nicotine patches are about to be declared contraband in all provincial jails in Alberta.
Last April, AUPE filed a formal complaint under the Occupational Health and Safety Act on behalf of employees of Alberta Correctional facilities who were concerned about the toxic effects of makeshift cigarettes fashioned by inmates from transdermal nicotine patches.
On Thursday, members of the union-management Transdermal Nicotine Patch Committee were informed that the results of tests commissioned by the province confirmed AUPE’s concerns and that as a consequence the government has made the decision to ban “the patch” from all Alberta jails.
“This is a real victory for our members, and the government deserves congratulations for acting decisively once it was clear our members’ concerns about the health impacts of inmates smoking patches had been scientifically established,” said AUPE President Doug Knight.
The ban goes into partial effect on Friday, March 2, said AUPE Occupational Health and Safety specialist Dennis Malayko.
Malayko, who was a member of the union-management committee, said the province indicated it would allow a grace period until March 26 to permit inmates who are now legitimately using the patch the opportunity to complete their treatment program. After that, he said, the product will be totally banned from all provincial Correctional facilities.
The work of the union-management committee will now be wrapped up, Malayko said.
AUPE filed its complaint on April 20, 2006, seeking a total ban on the use of the patch or any other similar product that could be burned and smoked in Alberta Correctional facilities.
The union said at the time it supported education, information and any medical remedies that would help inmates quit smoking without creating health problems for union members and other employees of Correctional facilities, or for non-smoking inmates.
Malayko said AUPE filed the complaint after more than a year of frustration trying unsuccessfully to deal with the issue of misuse of the transdermal nicotine patches. He said the problem arose after the implementation of a workplace-smoking ban in provincial Correctional facilities in the fall of 2004.
Malayko said the union-management committee was informed Thursday that tests done in Correctional facilities around the province confirmed that “toxic chemicals are being put into the air in these facilities because of patch smoking.”
Inmates had been scraping the nicotine off the patches, mixing it with dried tea, toilet paper, fruit peels, or pencil shavings, drying the mixture, and wrapping it in pages torn from Bibles or other books before smoking it, he said.
The resulting smoke has caused “severe respiratory symptoms” among Correctional facility staff, about 20 of whom had filed Workers Compensation claims before AUPE made its complaint under the act.
“Completely eliminating these patches from Correctional facilities is a very positive step for everyone,” Malayko concluded.
For more information, contact:
Doug Knight, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-265-6655 (cellular phone)
Dennis Malayko, Union Representative, Occupational Health and Safety, AUPE, 780-930-3362 or 780-910-0805 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)