DHA: E-cig plans 'not smoking ban failure'

Prisoners on the Isle of Man could be deterred from making their own cigarettes if electronic versions are introduced. 

That's the belief of the Department of Home Affairs which will ask Tynwald to approve changes to custody rules to permit the use of the E-burn device for a six-month trial. 

The e-cigarettes - which would have to be purchased by inmates - would replace nicotine replacement therapy which is currently offered. 

The department says the change in policy should not be 'interpreted as a failure of the prison smoking ban' which has been in place since 2008. 

Instead Bob McColm, the head of the prison, says it's a way of making both prisoners and staff safer: