Macon County Sheriff Mark Gammons has a new proposal to bring before the Macon Commissioners this month. He wants to sell his inmates electronic cigarettes. Gammons believes that he can raise $50,000 a year in commissary revenue simply by providing this new commissary item.
According to Tennessee law, prisoners in a correctional facility cannot use tobacco. Gammons says that many of the people booked into the jail are addicted to tobacco already. This produces a constant contraband problem, with inmates trying to smuggle tobacco in.
Just as importantly, he says, this solution could address the problem of underpaid correctional officers.
