Nicotine patches will be banned from Alberta jails after inmates were found using the substance to make hazardous makeshift cigarettes -- rolled with paper ripped from bibles.
The ban stems from a complaint filed last April to the Occupational Health and Safety by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).
Employees at Alberta correctional facilities had complained that inmates were abusing the patches by finding ways to smoke the nicotine.
They are known to scrape the nicotine from the patches and then mix it with dried tea, toilet paper, fruit peels, or pencil shavings.
"Ingenius inmates basically were soaking off the nicotine and placing it onto orange peels, rubber soles, whatever materials they could find to soak it into, and then rolling it into things such as Bible paper," AUPE Health and Safety representative Dennis Malayko told CTV Edmonton.
In tests commissioned by the province, toxic chemicals were found in the smoke from the homemade cigarettes. The smoke has caused severe respiratory symptoms among some employees, about 20 of whom had filed workers' compensation claims before AUPE made its complaint under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The problem started in 2004 after a workplace smoking ban was implemented in all provincial correctional facilities.
The union was notified of the test results on Thursday.
"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 March 2. Inmates who are legitimately using the patch will be given a grace period to complete their treatment.
With a report from CTV Edmonton
