A recent Bolts article by Phillip Vance Smith II highlights a troubling new policy in North Carolina’s prison system: a sharp price increase on canteen goods that disproportionately harms incarcerated people and their families. The Department of Adult Correction has raised the state-mandated markup on basic necessities—items like hygiene products, supplemental food, and over-the-counter medicine—further burdening individuals who already rely on minimal wages or family support to meet their basic needs.
For many incarcerated people, the canteen is the only reliable way to access essential items not provided by the state in adequate quality or quantity. Yet with wages in North Carolina prisons ranging from pennies per hour to nothing at all, these price hikes effectively place basic needs out of reach. Families on the outside, many of whom are low-income themselves, shoulder the increased cost to keep their loved ones supplied with necessities.
The article underscores a larger systemic issue: prison systems often rely on the financial exploitation of the very people they incarcerate. By raising canteen markups to generate revenue, the state is balancing its budget on the backs of those least able to pay. Advocates warn that these policies deepen poverty, strain family relationships, and undermine rehabilitation by increasing stress and instability.
As Smith notes, incarcerated people and their families have few avenues to push back against these rising costs. Without meaningful oversight or public accountability, the financial burdens continue to escalate—illustrating how even small policy shifts can create severe hardship in carceral settings.