So here's the go. Remember when our Aussie prisons said, "That's it, no more ciggies!"? Well, now there's a bit of a problem. They've switched to vapes, but it's not as straightforward as you'd think. These vapes have got something extra in 'em - something that's supposed to keep the guys behind bars a bit more chilled out.
Last year, the Department of Corrections decided to put out the smokes for good. Good on 'em, right? Swapping lung-busting durries for vapes sounds like a win-win. Well, not so fast. It seems they might've sparked a bit of an uproar instead.
The word is that these vapes are loaded with a mystery substance. The goal? To keep the blokes in blue a little more relaxed. But not everyone's happy about it. Human rights groups and advocates for our prisoners reckon it's a bit rich to be slipping unknown substances to inmates.
"We're not talking about experimenting with a new pie recipe here. You can't just put who-knows-what in these vapes and call it a health initiative," said one vocal advocate from a prisoners' rights group.
But the prison bosses aren't having a bar of it. They're saying these allegations are a bunch of baloney. According to them, these vapes are totally legit, nothing but the usual e-liquid.
"We're not trying to pull a shifty here. The goal with vapes was to put a stopper on the health problems from smoking, not to get tricky with the inmates," a department spokesperson assured us.
This whole vape drama has everyone talking. People are calling for an in-depth look into what's really in these vapes. It's a fine line between keeping things on the level and respecting the rights of the blokes doing their time.
A smoke-free policy? Sure, sounds good for everyone's health. But if there's some secret sauce in these vapes, it really makes you wonder.
So it begs the question, is it fair to use unknown substances on our inmates, even with the best intentions? Is this about helping them kick the habit or is it just a sly way to keep things quiet? As the saying goes, the truth will out... eventually. Until then, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
