Can Inmates Smoke in Prison and Are Gangs a Problem?

Smoking is banned in all federal correctional facilities and in the vast majority of state and county facilities across the country. The ban covers tobacco products entirely, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and related items. Tobacco is contraband in most prisons and inmates found with it face disciplinary consequences. This has been the standard for many years and is not likely to change.

On gang activity at Boonville specifically, Crossroads Correctional Center in Cameron and the Boonville facilities in Missouri are state-operated institutions, and like most state prisons they have some level of gang presence. How pronounced that presence is depends on the security level and the current population makeup. Lower security facilities tend to have less active gang dynamics than higher security institutions. State prisons generally have more visible gang activity than federal facilities, though the federal system is not immune to it either.

For someone entering Boonville for the first time, the practical advice is consistent regardless of the facility. Keep to yourself, show respect to everyone, stay out of other people's conflicts, avoid debt, and do not affiliate with any group just because there is social pressure to do so. Inmates who carry themselves calmly and quietly navigate even facilities with active gang populations without serious incident in the vast majority of cases.