BOP Faces Scrutiny Over Exclusive Deal to Sell Nicotine Pouches to Prisoners
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
At a glance
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Under investigation
- The Bureau of Prisons paused purchases of nicotine pouches after CBS News questioned an exclusive arrangement with a newly established Florida company.
- The 6-milligram mindSHFT pouches supplied under the arrangement are not authorized by the FDA for marketing and sale in the United States, according to CBS's review of FDA data.
- A whistleblower raised concerns with the Justice Department, while the BOP said it began offering pouches to combat contraband tobacco and nicotine trafficking.
The Bureau of Prisons has paused the purchase and sale of nicotine pouches after questions arose over an exclusive arrangement with a Florida company established only recently.
The pouches, sold under the name mindSHFT, contain 6 milligrams of nicotine. CBS News said a review of Food and Drug Administration data found that the product is not authorized for marketing or sale in the United States. The brand is not sold commercially.
This situation deserves immediate attention.
A senior prison official ordered all federal prisons to stop procuring the pouches until further notice, according to an internal memo dated Sept. 3. The move came after CBS News began examining the arrangement and an anonymous federal employee sent a complaint to Attorney General Todd Blanche and the Justice Department inspector general.
The Bureau of Prisons is responsible for the health and safety of individuals in its custody. If an improperly authorized or contaminated product is being purchased and distributed throughout the federal system, the consequences could be extremely serious.
"This situation deserves immediate attention," the employee wrote, warning that the Bureau of Prisons had responsibility for the health and safety of people in its custody. The complaint said the consequences could be extremely serious if an improperly authorized or contaminated product had been distributed across the federal system.
The BOP said it introduced nicotine pouches in prison commissaries to counter the trafficking of contraband tobacco and nicotine products by criminal organizations inside federal prisons. A spokesperson said the agency had suspended further purchases while the products underwent review. The BOP consulted the FDA, while a legal review of existing stock continued. No illnesses or adverse effects had been reported among people who may have used the pouches.
BOP began offering nicotine pouches through institution commissaries to combat the trafficking of contraband tobacco and nicotine products by criminal organizations inside federal prisons.
The supplier, SHFT Enterprise Holdings LLC, was incorporated in Florida one week after the BOP published a May 15 request for information about vendors able to produce FDA-authorized nicotine pouches for federal prisoners. CBS also reported that the company's website domain was created on May 7, the same date shown on a BOP manual amendment allowing nicotine pouches to be sold in commissaries. The BOP did not formally issue a public request for proposals, and a person familiar with the arrangement said the agency had no signed contract with the company.
BOP has suspended all additional purchasing of these products until further notice while under review.
About this summary
Originally published by CBS News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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