Australian state fears prisoner riots after nicotine patch supply runs out

The supply of nicotine patches in Victorian prisons, where a smoking ban was introduced in July, is on the verge of running out, giving rise to fears of a major prisoner uprising.

As part of Victoria's smoke-free program, prisoners in the state's 14 jails have been provided nicotine patches and lozenges over the past three months to help cure their addiction.

But the allocation of patches to inmates only lasts for 12 weeks, a period which ended for most prisoners earlier this week a development which has got prison authorities worried.

"All the officers are on tenterhooks with the nicotine patch supply running out and prisoners scrambling over highly priced, banned cigarettes," a prison source told the Herald-Sun newspaper on Wednesday.

"So many inmates were chain smokers.

"The patches were the only things keeping them calm. Implementing the ban has been a nightmare, especially with so many prisoners chopping up their patches and smoking them."

It is believed a packet of cigarettes now fetches in excess of a thousand Australian dollars on the prison black market.

Victoria's smoke-free prison policy came into effect on July 1 this year following the lead of overseas correctional institutions in the United States and Canada.

On the same day the blanket ban was introduced, a 15-hour riot broke out at a Melbourne remand center with hundreds of masked inmates revolted against the move by setting fires and smashing windows.

Heavily armed policy authorities were called in to end the siege.

The state's Corrections Commissioner Jan Shuard said on Wednesday she was confident prisoners could kick their addiction without the patch.

"I understand from the health authorities that in that 12 weeks period, that is sufficient amount of time," Shuard said, quoted by the Australian Broadcast Corporation.

Earlier this month it was revealed prisoners were making "tea smokes" by boiling patches in the belief that it would release the nicotine.

Several prisoners were reportedly taken to hospital with the side effects of smoking the end product.

Four states or territories in Australia - Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the North Territory - have a cigarette-free prison environment.

The latest Australian state to implement the measure - New South Wales - recorded smoking rates of prisoners as five times higher than in the broader community. Endi