A woman about 70-years old wrote to this website to describe her struggle against second-hand smoke at Perryville. “In 2017 I submitted a grievance against staff smoking out-of-area and in the non-smoking sections of Santa Maria. I had a list of 15 names of officers who completely disregard the policy on smoking, where they were, the time of day, and the camera angles. Within 10 hours of turning in that grievance, I was on the next bus to Santa Cruz unit. The Captain saw me off, shook my hand and told me he was sorry I was retaliated against.

I was happy on Santa Cruz but encountered the same blatant disregard for non-smokers as I had endured on Maria. I compiled yet another list of staff smoking in my face and in front of sick patients at the medical unit. This time I had an audience with the two COIVs on Cruz about my asthma and why this is a serious problem. After all, if the staff can’t follow the law, how can we expect the inmates to do so. They decided I was too much trouble and put me in a van back to Santa Maria.

The message is: “Shut up about tobacco or we’ll transfer you to Lumley or a detention unit!”