By Timothy S. Donahue
Top Takeaways:
- Tobacco out: Alabama is phasing tobacco out of all state correctional facilities.
- ZYN stays: Prison canteens will continue selling ZYN nicotine pouches and NicoDerm patches.
- Sept. 1 start: Four facilities will be first to stop tobacco sales.
Tobacco is going out. Nicotine isn’t.
The Alabama Department of Corrections is launching a systemwide tobacco-free initiative that will eventually eliminate tobacco products for inmates and employees across all state prisons and correctional facilities, while continuing to allow the sale of ZYN nicotine pouches and NicoDerm nicotine patches.
The initiative will be introduced in phases, beginning with Elmore Correctional Facility, Frank Lee Community Based Facility, Kilby Correctional Facility, and Staton Correctional Facility. Canteens at those facilities will stop selling tobacco products on Sept. 1.
ADOC confirmed, however, that the facilities will continue to offer ZYN nicotine pouches and NicoDerm patches, providing inmates who use tobacco with noncombustible nicotine alternatives as the tobacco restrictions take effect.
The distinction makes the Alabama policy notable to the nicotine industry. Rather than prohibiting nicotine altogether, the department is separating tobacco use from nicotine consumption and maintaining access to products that do not require smoking.
The department is also preparing inmates for the transition through cessation support. Psychological associates are being trained to lead tobacco-cessation classes at facilities throughout the system for those seeking assistance with quitting.
The first phase includes three major correctional facilities and one community-based facility. ADOC’s current facility information lists Elmore with 1,166 beds, Kilby with 1,343, and Staton with 1,366. Frank Lee, a community-based facility and work center, has 267 beds.
The policy will ultimately apply across the state correctional system and to the Governor Kay Ivey Correctional Complex, which is currently under construction.
ADOC oversees more than 21,000 inmates and employs more than 3,600 correctional and support personnel, according to the governor’s office. Greg Lovelace has led the department since May, when Gov. Kay Ivey appointed the longtime corrections official to succeed retiring Commissioner John Hamm.
The tobacco-free initiative also comes amid contraband problems in Alabama prisons. ADOC’s quarterly reports document seizures of tobacco and other prohibited substances at state correctional and work-release facilities, including tobacco recovered during a June 2025 investigation at Frank Lee.
The department has not said when each facility will become tobacco-free or whether the availability of ZYN and nicotine patches will change as subsequent phases are implemented.
For now, however, Alabama is taking an approach that draws a clear line between tobacco and nicotine: cigarettes and other tobacco products are being removed, while at least two noncombustible nicotine alternatives will remain available.
