San Francisco jail installs condom dispensersSan Francisco Chronicle / SFGate.comLooking for a little action?
You might want to try the San Francisco County Jail's San Bruno lockup, where authorities have installed 16 condom machines for the jail's 750 prisoners.
The condom dispensers are the latest evolution in a safe-sex program that began in 1989, when health workers began distributing condoms to inmates as part of their counseling before they were released.
And although sex among inmates technically is illegal, the Sheriff's Department went ahead and installed the 16 machines anyway - one for each jailhouse pod - paid for by a pair of small grants from UCSF and a Southern California nonprofit.
"It may be controversial," Sheriff Michael Hennessey said, "but I think the larger health education message is important."
As for the chance that all those machines will actually promote jailhouse sex?
The sex already takes place, says Kate Monico Klein, who is directing the program for the city's Public Health Department. "If (providing condoms) saves one or two lives, it's worth it," she said.
Labels: California, condoms, jail, San Francisco
Condom Machines Installed at SF JailNBCBayArea.comCondom machines are the latest step in a program to promote safe sex at the San Francisco Jail's San Bruno lockup.
The Chronicle's Matier and Ross reported this week that authorities at the jail installed 16 condom machines throughout the facility -- one in each jail pod -- even though sex is technically illegal in the cell block.
Health workers have been handing out condoms to inmates at the jail since 1989 as part of a safe-sex program aimed at getting them ready for their release back into society.
Distributing condoms to inmates is "worth it," said Kate Monico Klein, who's directing the program under the City's Public Health Department, because it could save lives.
Labels: California, condoms, jail, San Francisco
