A Des Moines woman has volunteered
to spend time in jail in order to quit smoking. Jodi Perkins said she’s
desperate to stop her 23-year habit. Perkins said she has tried just about everything
to stop, such as going to the doctor, using patches and chewing gum. She said
nothing has worked.
“This is shameful. I can’t take it anymore. I don’t know what to
do. I need to be removed from the nicotine.
Will power doesn’t do it for me,” Perkins said.
Perkins said she called the Polk County
Jail to see if officials would allow her to spend time there so she could get the nicotine out of her system.
“I want to quit smoking real
bad. I can tell when I’m outside, I’m mowing and I’m doing
activities it’s getting harder to breathe. I’m still in my 30s and
I can’t catch my breath,” she said.
Perkins said she offered to pay whatever
fee might be required. She said she knows a lot of people would understand her
actions. “It is a sickness – an addiction,” Perkins said. She said she’s willing to go to the extreme by giving up her vacation and freedom
to get the nicotine out of her body. Jail officials told Perkins that she cannot
go to jail unless there is a warrant out for her or a court order issued.
“I’m a former smoker. I know what that’s like,” said Polk County Sheriff’s Office spokesman,
Neil Shultz. He said a lot of people are desperate to quit smoking, but the Polk
County Jail is not set up to do that. “It’s a huge liability on our
part,” he said.
Perkins said two to three days in
jail away from cigarettes could help.
“I don’t want to keep
contaminating myself, my family (or) my dog with the nicotine,” she said.
Source: KCCI News, Des Moines, Iowa
