Jail Me So I Can Quit Smoking, Says Iowa Woman

Aug. 6, 2007 — -- An Iowa woman who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day became so frustrated with her addiction that she called the sheriff's department last week and asked officers to jail her for several days — just to help her kick the nasty habit.

"I've tried everything," Jodi Perkins told ABC News' Law & Justice Unit. "I'm only 39 and I smoke two packs a day and I just can't breathe. I would do anything in the world to quit smoking. I would go to jail. I'm just so sick of it."

The jail wouldn't take her.

"I called last week and I said, 'Hi, I am interested in being admitted to Polk County jail and I'm willing to pay any fees that it would cost you to keep me there for a few days.' The lady [who answered the phone] was really surprised, but she said they couldn't help me."

Neil Shultz, a spokesman for the Polk County sheriff and a former smoker, said he sympathized, to a degree.

"Ironically, most of the people in, want to get out," he said. "We've got about 1,000 people incarcerated in our two jails here in Des Moines and between the two of them they were designed to hold about 514. So as sympathetic as we can be, we're not able to help her."

Perkins, a clearly determined woman, then turned to her family.

"I went out and got handcuffs and then I got hold of my sisters and I said to them, 'OK, I want you to handcuff me inside my bathroom for a week.' They would leave me food and water and everything, and then not come back for a week."

"They agreed to do it, but then they changed their minds. 'What if someone broke into your house?' they said. Or 'What if there was a fire and you couldn't get out?'" Perkins said, recounting her sisters' concerns.

She said she and her sisters then hatched a plan to handcuff her in the bathroom with food and water "and then they'd leave me a hacksaw," Perkins said, chuckling as she recounted the conversation.