Why Prisons Ban These Everyday Items

If you were told something as innocent as dental floss has fueled multiple prison-breaks, you probably wouldn't believe. But it’s completely true. With limited access to pretty much everything we take for granted, prison inmates get insanely inventive with what they can get their hands on. For that reason, a ton of seemingly innocent items are totally banned from prisons. From the unexpected dangers of Jolly Ranchers, to the real reason several prisons banned Dungeons and Dragons, climb into your orange overalls, as we uncover why prisons ban some extremely surprising everyday items!

Dental Floss

It goes without saying that regardless of a prisoner’s crime, they should be at least afforded basic human rights, such as food, clothing, and hygiene essentials. But did you know that dental floss, specifically, is actually banned from many prisons? And no, it’s not because the prisons want to punish inmates with bad breath and gingivitis. The real reason is way crazier.

In 2012, a group of prisoners in White Plains, New York banded together to demand their constitutional right to floss, threatening to sue the prison if they refused to supply the dental product. Who knew prisoners were so passionate about oral hygiene?

But the reality of the request, according to prison staff, was much less squeaky-clean than it seemed. In fact, prison officials initially flat out refused the request, expressing concerns about security issues, what with dental floss having a surprising history of being closely entangled with jailbreak.

Back in the year 2000, Texas prisoner Antonio Lara used floss coated with toothpaste as an abrasive, in order to cut his way out of his prison cell. Given that, for prisoners, the one thing they have is time, such a seemingly insurmountable task is made possible, making painfully gradual progress over weeks and months.

Lara eventually managed to cut some of the lower bars off of his cell door, and used his newfound freedom to carry out some unfortunate deeds on a fellow inmate. Clearly, he wasn’t using his powers for good. Given that truly unexpected scenario, utilizing dental floss and toothpaste of all things, it demonstrates how incredibly resourceful prisoners can be, and you can begin to understand why prison officials are hesitant to allow floss on the inside.

But it’s not just that one tale that supports the argument. In 2012, convicted robbers, Joseph Banks and Kenneth Conley, conducted an unbelievable escape from Chicago’s Metropolitan Correctional Centre. The pair fabricated a rope made from woven and knotted bedsheets and floss, and shimmied out to freedom through a carefully prepared gap below the window of their 17th storey cell.

Oklahoma county jail Inmates Pablo Robledo, Jose Hernandez escape with rope made of bedsheets | ABC7 by ABC7

After successfully abseiling down the building, the two hailed a cab and made their escape. However, it wasn’t long until the fugitives were caught. Joseph was found merely 2 days later hiding in an apartment a few doors down from his childhood home.

Remaining on the run for a slightly more impressive 18 days, Kenneth was found in the basement boiler room of an apartment complex, disguised as an old man. Even so, knowing the escapes were made possible with the help of certain innocuous-seeming items, it’s easy to understand why prisons may have trust issues when it comes to floss.

Despite that, however, not to mention the fact that a plastic floss container can also be potentially weaponized, the New York prisoners mentioned earlier were eventually granted their right to floss. Albeit only with Kayser’s ‘Floss Loops’ which are circles of rubbery floss that are designed to break easily and contain no hard plastic.

But while we’re on the topic of preventing jailbreaks, did you know that there’s actually a good reason for why many prisons in the US issue their inmates with bright orange jumpsuits? It’s simple really, it’s so that escaping inmates are easily identifiable and can be reported to the police although, it would seem judging by the earlier story of Joseph Banks and Kenneth Conley’s great escape, certain Chicago cab drivers may turn a blind eye to the blinding orange!

Meanwhile, over in the UK, if inmates are particularly well behaved they may be permitted to wear their own clothing on the inside. Though there’s a strict ban on black or white clothing as that might be mistaken for the black and white uniform worn by prison guards, which could make an escape possible.

Forbidden Books

It’s safe to assume that whilst serving time in prison, inmates have a lot of time on their hands. And while many turn to books as a source of entertainment, a prisoner’s choice of books can actually be somewhat limited, with many surprising titles being banned.

Turns out it’s pretty common practice for prisons to ban books deemed too violent, sexually explicit, or even containing content that might encourage the breaking of prison rules. One such book that has been vetoed by many prisons, such as Utah State, is Robert Greene’s ‘The 48 Laws of Power’. A book which provides advice on how to seduce, charm, and deceive opponents, allowing skillful manipulation.

But in an institution where subordination is the name of the game, it’s easy to see why prisons would rather their inmates not get a hold of that type of literature. Likewise, any books that might teach inmates potentially-dangerous skills, such as electrical wiring, are also commonly off-limits, as on the list of banned books from the Michigan Department of Corrections.

That banned list also threw in such classic titles as, Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War’; ‘You Are Going to Prison: The Practical Guide’ by Jim Hogshire; Raymond Buckland’s ‘Complete Book of Witchcraft’; ‘Classic Trains’ magazine; ESPN’s NBA Draft Preview magazine; The Truck Driver’s Guidebook; and the utterly despicable book almost too scary to mention: ‘Web Design DeMystified’, by Wendy Willard. The reasoning behind those bans is sometimes self-evident, and sometimes more than a little baffling. Bizarrely, the list even includes several Dungeons And Dragons handbooks but we’ll get more into that a little later!

Perhaps one of the most unexpected books that is banned from prisons over in Texas, though, is ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ pop-up edition. It goes without saying that it certainly isn’t for any lewd content! Instead, it’s actually due to its pop-up cardboard flaps, which allow for easy smuggling of contraband items.

A Charlie Brown Christmas Pop-up Book - Lights Up | CollectPeanuts by CollectPeanuts.com

If you thought that was extreme, prisons across Missouri ended up banning prisoners from receiving books from the outside world altogether in 2023, due to there being too many smuggling attempts nestled among gifted pages. All because some delinquents couldn’t help themselves from smuggling.

In possibly the most bizarre book-banning's, though, in 2022 the Michigan Department of Corrections specifically banned Spanish and Swahili dictionaries. When explaining why, the prison claimed those books are, quote, ‘a threat to the state’s penitentiaries’.

They went on the elaborate that, quote, ‘if certain prisoners all decided to learn a very obscure language, they’d be able to then speak freely in front of staff and others about introducing contraband or insulting staff or assaulting another prisoner’. Which, makes sense but why only Spanish and Swahili? And if the prison is talking about very obscure languages, it seems odd to include Spanish considering it is the second most spoken language in the US!

Jolly Ranchers

From rotting your teeth to increasing your waist size, we all know the dangers of candy. However, did you know that candy can be particularly dangerous inside prison? And not just any candy, but specifically Jolly Ranchers. Hard candies, including Jolly Ranchers, are considered dangerous enough to be banned in some prisons, like those under the administration of the Minnesota Department of Corrections.

Why? Well, first of all, according to the New York Daily News, some crafty prisoners have actually been known to melt hard candy down into a liquid and then mold it into a sharp weapon, letting it harden as it cools. The cylindrical shape of Jolly Ranchers in particular makes for an easily-assembled shaft and pointed tip that only requires melting the ends of each piece, rapidly providing a sturdy gripping surface for the hand.

However fully melting the candy and reshaping into a mold is much sturdier, whether that entails molding it into a big, heavy block to drop on enemies, Looney-Tunes-style, or your more classic, sharp, pointy shape. Needless to mention, candy shanks can then be used to get up to all kinds of mischief though obviously candy weaponry isn’t the most hard-wearing! But it’s not just weaponry, but when melted down, the candy can even be mixed with a cocktail of different crushed up medications in order to create an edible intoxicant.

Chewing Gum

In addition to Jolly Ranchers, chewing gum is also off limits in some prisons. Apart from being the source of unsightly messes, you may never have considered that gum could, in theory, be used to escape. It sounds unlikely, but a reported concern is that particularly cunning prisoners might be able to use large quantities of gum to create molded impressions of the guard’s keys, should they manage to get their hands on them.

It's unsure what the prisoners could possibly use to fill the impression, as melting and casting metal isn’t exactly easy in jail unless welding classes are offered, that is! That said, if we’ve learnt anything so far, it’s that prisoners can come up with a way to do just about anything, so better to be safe than sorry.

On top of all that, some prisoners might even use chewing gum to block the locks on their cell doors, to prevent guards entering during a planned attack or similar bad behavior. In fact, it’s for that very same reason that one prison over in the UK had to stop serving oatmeal, what with inmates using it to block up their keyholes. Who’d have ever thought that oatmeal, of all things, could pose a security threat?

Pure Alcohol

Being at the top of the food chain, it’s fair to say that we humans are pretty clever creatures. That is, in part, thanks to our resourcefulness and ability to adapt and as such, we will pretty much always find a way to get our mitts on some booze.

Back in 2009, a bunch of UK prisoners were so parched for a drink that they went to extreme measures. It was during a swine flu outbreak and the prison had taken precautions by implementing hand sanitizing stations throughout the prison. But with the sanitizer containing high amounts of ethanol, AKA straight alcohol, the booze-starved prisoners decided to mix it with soda, resulting in a hand sanitizer cocktail.

Needless to say that that is not only gross, but extremely dangerous, what with many hand sanitizers also containing methanol, which can destroy brain cells and nerves, cause blindness, and even death. Sadly, if unsurprisingly, that prison’s hand sanitizer binge was actually suspected to have caused one inmate’s demise, forcing the prison to remove all hand sanitizers. Crazy how consuming something not designed for human consumption could be problematic!

For a similar reason, sugar has been known to be banned in some prisons, including a handful in Australia and the UK, as it can be used to make alcohol. Commonly known as prison hooch, or pruno that is essentially a mixture of sugar, water, and any available source of yeast, such as fruit, including the skin.

Fruit juices are also a common choice, given that they’re common in prisons. The concoction is then left to ferment in a relatively warm, hard to find place, such as a toilet tank, for about 5 to 7 days, resulting in an alcoholic beverage. Some have described its flavor as a vomit-flavored wine cooler!

Magic Cards

There are many things that you’d expect to be banned from prisons, such as alcohol, technology, weapons etc. However, possibly the last thing you’d ever expect a prison to have to specifically ban is Magic.

In 2023, the deputy director of the New Mexico Corrections Department, Timothy Hatch, decided to ban Magic: The Gathering for all prisons in New Mexico. In case you don’t know, Magic: The Gathering is a trading card game which features fantasy elements, like casting spells and summoning creatures.

Of course, those prisoners weren’t actually summoning goblins to do their bidding, which left some thinking the decision was made purely out of spite to deprive the inmates of fun. However, the Department stated that the decision was made due to inmates of at least one prison in the state using the cards as an alternative form of currency, which is a practice they want to stamp out.

In a similar sweep of anti-fantasy action, back in 2016, the Waupun Correctional Institution of Wisconsin banned its inmates from playing Dungeons and Dragons. When explaining why, the prison claimed that it was concerned the game might encourage fantasies of escaping.

Other reasons listed included the allegation that D&D encourages competitive hostility, violence, possible gambling, as well as potential tension that might arise from one person being allocated the elevated role of leader, or dungeon master, of the game. With that ban being widespread across prisons in multiple US states, it seems like someone in the administration must really hate nerds!

Forbidden Letters

It’s true that love knows no bounds not even the bounds of prison walls. And while many relationships temporary or otherwise form on the inside, it can be extremely challenging to maintain a pre-existing relationship with one person locked up, and the other still enjoying free life on the outside. So, when convicts leave behind lovers in the civilian world, it’s not uncommon for them to send and receive love letters to keep the spark alive. However, when it comes to those letters, there’s a quite surprising rule enforced by guards.

Besides the obvious policy that inmates aren’t permitted to receive "physically stimulating photography", the Fairfax County Detention Centre in Virginia specifically banned lipstick stained letters. You’re probably wondering why, but it actually makes a lot of sense.

According to The Marshall Project, a non-profit criminal justice publication, a smear of makeup can easily be laced with crushed down psychoactive compounds, which can then be used or sold by the receiving inmate. So, in order to prevent that, per the Virginia prison’s policy, any lipstick stained letter will be sent back to from whence it came.

It's for the same reason that Utah State Prison even banned its inmates from receiving crayon and marker pen drawings. You might assume those doodles to be the work of an innocent child, but that’s exactly what the people using them to smuggle contraband into prisons would want you to think! The truth is that controlled substances can easily be crushed down into a thin paste and laced into the drawings, or worse yet, even the paper itself might be soaked in liquified narcotics, which inmates can then use.

Across the pond in the UK, prisons have similarly banned "Christmas cards with glitter and sticky stuff on". And that isn’t out of a warden’s personal disdain for glitter, but rather to combat a spike in illicit substance usage affecting British prisons.

The concern is that those compounds may be sprayed onto the card, ready for consumption. Despite that, the prisons didn’t go full Grinch-mode and completely ruin the spirit of Christmas, what with them so generously allowing inmates to receive photocopied versions of their Christmas cards.

Makeshift Weapons

It’s hardly surprising that many prisoners are of the aggressive disposition. So, naturally, they may have a tendency to want to use weapons while on the inside. And as you’ll soon learn, where there’s a will there’s a weapon, as it seems some prisoners can make a weapon out of just about anything!

Case in point, numerous prisons in different US states prohibit spiral bound notebooks. Due to the metal spiral being easily removed, inmates can then use it for a whole host of mischief, such as unravelling it to create weapons or even potentially fashioning lockpicking tools to try and escape their cells.

Regardless, it goes without saying that a sharp piece of metal can do some damage when in the wrong hands. Speaking of sharp items, one prison in Scotland even had to confiscate ceramic mugs from its inmates due to them smashing them and using them as weapons. Presumably, the inmates are now reliant on sippy cups exclusively, for their morning Joe.

Besides mugs, one of the most common prison weapons is what’s often referred to as a "sock and lock" AKA, a sock filled with padlocks, or anything else available that is small and weighty. It essentially forms a DIY flail that can do serious damage, and there are countless incidents on record. In fact, in the UK’s notorious Cookham Wood Prison, inmates made such a habit of filling their socks with heavy objects such as batteries, pool balls, and even cans of tuna, that the prison decided to actually ban full-length socks in 2015!

But don’t worry, there wasn’t just a bunch of barefooted prisoners trotting around, the prison replaced their standard socks with ankle socks, which don’t have enough length to be swung around as a flail. And while the sock ban certainly helped, one of the prison’s insiders insisted that, regardless, inmates will always find a way to hurt one another.

And if you think that’s an exaggeration, a former inmate of New York City’s Rikers Island Prison explained on a Quora thread that, while he was serving time, even the tiny plastic battery covers on remote controls were banned. Reason being, some of the other prisoners apparently had a habit of shaving them down and using them as weapons.

Likewise, another unexpected item that some prisons have banned for quite a disturbing reason is baby oil. Intended to soothe and moisturize skin, prisoners have been known to use it for quite literally the opposite effect. According to ex-inmate and now TikToker, ‘SC-convict’, the oil would be heated in the microwave to extreme temperatures, and I leave the rest to your imagination. So if you find yourself in the slammer don’t trust the safety of any everyday object, because someone’s going to find a way to hurt you with it!

Banned Relationships

Some might argue that despite a person’s crimes, everyone deserves love. But try telling that to the prisons that have actually put a ban on love! How so? Over in Denmark, the Danish government has introduced a new bill that specifically prohibits prisoners who are serving lifetime sentences from entering into new romantic relationships.

To some it might seem like an unnecessary and perhaps even harsh policy to introduce, but there is actually a pretty reasonable justification for it. Having noticed a rising number of, quote, ‘groupies’ of criminals those being, young women and men who are allegedly fascinated by certain criminals and obsessively engage in communication with them, basically totally fan-grilling over them the government hopes that that bill will reduce the prevalence of that behavior.

Needless to say, getting pally with prisoners who’ve been condemned for some of the worst crimes known to man doesn’t always go swimmingly for both parties, and encouraging celebrity-like worship of society’s most depraved is not exactly something governments, nor prison officials, want taking place. So, with that in mind, perhaps the Danish ban on love isn’t so harsh after all.

Tea

There are many things commonly associated with the British. The royal family; extreme, insincere politeness; a love for queuing; and perhaps most important of all, cups of tea! And if you ever doubted for a second just how seriously Brits take their tea, then just keep reading.

Back in 2018, a British prison, Cookham Wood Youth Jail, came under fire after an independent prisoner-welfare monitoring board discovered that it was depriving inmates of cups of tea. The prison defended itself by claiming the ban was only a punishment for bad behavior, though the independent board ruled it as "inappropriate" nonetheless. You can lock the British up, strip them of all their possessions, family and friends, but by god, you can go to hell before you take away their cups of tea!

If you were amazed at these items banned in prison you might want to read about the worst prisons in History. Thanks for reading!