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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The NWT will follow the rest of Canada in a move to ban inmates from smoking - both inside and outside of jail - come April.

Currently, inmates are allowed to smoke while outside, but as of April 1 no one will be allowed to light up anywhere on facility grounds.

Inmates at Yellowknife's North Slave Correctional Centre, along with all other jails in the district, will not longer be permitted to have any tobacco products, including cigarettes, starting April 1. - NNSL file photo

"Inmates here had been made aware of it back in November," said Eric Kieken, warden of Yellowknife's North Slave Correctional Facility.

He said the NWT is one of the last jurisdictions to put a ban in place on smoking, and all tobacco products, in correctional facilities.

The territory has a much higher rate of smokers than the rest of the country, according to the NWT Department of Health and Social Services. In 2003 and 2004, 41 per cent of NWT residents 15 and older smoked compared to the national average of 21 per cent.

"The big thing will be assistance," said Kieken, adding inmates and staff have been made aware of options to help them quit.

The only exception to the new rule will be to allow tobacco for traditional aboriginal ceremonies. Kieken said he has not received any complaints about the new policy and that most institutions across Canada have not objected to the ban.

"Of course it makes sense to encourage good health in people," said Lydia Bardak, of the John Howard Society, a support group for inmates and former convicts. "Maybe they'll be more likely to lead healthier lives when they get out."

As far as complaints go, Bardak said a lot of the inmates are serving shorter sentences - with two-thirds in remand, waiting to have their cases heard in court - and it won't be until the ban is actually in effect that complaints start coming in.

She said many inmates smoke to kill time, so it is important to offer other activities and sports for them to do. If inmates feel unhappy and stressed out, she said, it increases the risk for the staff.

The main thing, said Bardak, is to provide tools for inmates to help them quit smoking.