Here are 2 inmates with COPD from inhaling second-hand smoke. Both began to get symptoms some years into their incarceration at Perryville.
A.G.V: “I am a life long non-smoker. After 10 years incarcerated in Oklahoma, I was transported to Perryville prison. There is no smoking in Oklahoma so I arrived here with no health problems. After a few years I had trouble catching my breath after walking. We are all connected through the same ventilation system and the girls smoke in their rooms after lock-down. The guards do absolutely nothing to enforce the no-smoking ban in the cells. In fact, they light the girls’ cigarettes for them! Corizon denies I have COPD, but doctors on the outside say I have it. I’m now confined to a wheelchair, and can only walk a few yards. In the meantime, I’m still breathing my roommates’ smoke.”
T.J.M. [another life-time non-smoker]: “I got symptoms of COPD after 10 years of incarceration in Perryville prison. My shortness of breath and pains in my chest continued to get worse. Last year I had my first heart attack and was sent tot he hospital. The doctors that treated me insisted I must be a smoker as they could smell it on me when I was admitted. “this kind of lung damage can only come from smoking” they said. I swear I have never used tonbacco products of any kind. Other smokers put me in this wheelchair.”