McNeill v. Ontario
A prisoner challenged a prison’s no-smoking policy claiming that the policy amounted to cruel and unusual punishment and discriminated against him based on his disability of being addicted to nicotine. The court dismissed the prisoner’s challenge, finding that the smoking ban is not a punishment. Additionally, the court found that the no-smoking program, which was which was introduced to comply with a properly passed law and designed to meet the worthy goal of public health, is not cruel and unusual treatment. The court also ruled that addiction to nicotine is not a protected disability.
