Oklahoma has just begun allowing prisoners to purchase safer nicotine products—vapes and pouches—at commissary.
Some jails already permitted this, as well as Pennsylvania’s state prisons. But facilities run by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) are just the second prison system in the United States to do so. ODOC began rolling out the plan in early March.
This change is of enormous importance because smoking prevalence is much higher in incarcerated populations than in the general population. It’s estimated that 70–80 percent of people incarcerated in the US smoke.
Few are allowed to smoke in prisons, due to widespread bans.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons removed tobacco from prison commissaries in 2006 and nine years later, officially instituted rules prohibiting smoking and possession of tobacco. Most states have also implemented prison tobacco bans; Oklahoma did so in 2005 (though it reversed this for minimum-security prisons in 2010).
But plenty of prisoners continue to smoke despite the bans, taking significant risks in the process. And nearly all of those who quit out of necessity will resume smoking upon release.
“After discussions with Oklahoma leadership and stakeholders, we started offering nicotine vapes and pouches for purchase at the commissary at the beginning of March.”
Before the bans were enacted, tobacco was a form of currency. Afterwards, it was contraband. Possession became a disciplinary infraction, and many who buy contraband tobacco at inflated prices in prisons accumulate tobacco debt.
“Debt equals violence in prison,” ODOC Director Justin Farris told a local news reporter of his department’s decision to allow safer nicotine products. “We are thinking we are going to reduce some of the contraband that comes into the prison and reduce some of the violence at the same time and keep a lot of these guys out of debt.”
“After discussions with Oklahoma leadership and stakeholders, we started offering nicotine vapes and pouches for purchase at the commissary for both staff and inmates at the beginning of March,” Kay Thompson, ODOC’s chief of public relations, told Filter via email.
In 2025, Thompson added, ODOC seized 1,614 pounds of contraband tobacco.
A single disposable vape in an Oklahoma prison costs $11.50. Unfortunately, only tobacco and menthol flavors are allowed. Nicotine pouches, meanwhile, are available in Chewy Watermelon, Glacial Mint or Wintergreen flavors, and a pack of 21 costs $10.50.
Though ODOC officials highlight the violence-reduction potential of safer nicotine products in this environment—according to the local media report, they hope these will “calm” prisoners—they don’t emphasize the essential fact that vapes and pouches are much safer than cigarettes in terms of health risks.
Money is a factor, too, and it is regrettable that the products won’t be available at lower cost or even free. According to Thompson, the ODOC receives a 20 percent commission on each sale. But she said that money will go into a fund to help employees and prisoners, with dedicated uses such as purchasing hygiene supplies for those who can’t afford them.
It is about the right to health for prisoners who use nicotine.
The vapes are supplied by Jail Puff, whose tagline is: “Changing corrections one puff at a time.” The company website explains how its vapes are equipped with tamper-proof and adhesive security seals. Jail Puff also offers prisons free tracking software that “allows for efficient monitoring and accountability, ensuring the utmost security and compliance with regulations.” The flavored nicotine pouches are supplied by Hyppe and 2ONE.
Having vapes and nicotine pouches available in prisons, as is the case in the United Kingdom, provides an alternative to the dangers of the contraband tobacco market. But it’s also a long-term opportunity to avoid smoking-related disease and death. It is about the right to health for prisoners who use nicotine.
Incarcerated reporter Jonathan Kirkpatrick authored a series of Filter articles calling for safer nicotine products in all carceral settings. “From a purely harm reduction standpoint it makes sense to offer these prisoners the chance to develop a new, safer practice of nicotine use,” he wrote. “Like many habits acquired in prison, it’s one they might very well take back to the streets with them. If so, they’d be likely to live longer, healthier lives.”
Photograph of available products courtesy of ODOC