Was dead set against prison tattoo apprenticeships until a lifer told me the numbers

An inmate named Marcus in state lockup gave me a lecture about how requiring licenses for everything inside just pushes guys back to shanks and infection. He said his unit saved $4,200 a year on medical costs after they started a small tattoo program with proper equipment. I told him that sounded like excuses, but he pulled records showing 30% fewer staph infections in his block. Now I'm looking into how we could run a pilot with just a few sterilized machines and see if the COs will let it slide.

3 comments

3 Comments

kim_ramirez319d ago

Wait, you were against it too? I used to think the licensing was necessary but Marcus makes a solid point about those staph numbers.

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davidkim19d ago

Did you see the study that broke down how much of those infections came from unlicensed shops versus licensed ones? It basically showed that the licensing didn't really cut down on the dirty work, it just made it harder for people to get safe piercings. People just went underground or did it themselves with worse gear. The whole system seems to punish the wrong people while the real problem of proper hygiene training gets ignored.

karencampbell17d ago

Buddy of mine @kim_ramirez3, he went to a licensed shop three years back for a simple ear piercing. Guy was licensed, had the certificate on the wall and everything. Ended up with a nasty infection that spread to his lymph nodes, took two rounds of antibiotics to clear up. Meanwhile his cousin got the same piercing from some kid in a basement with a sewing needle and rubbing alcohol and had zero issues. Just proves the license is a piece of paper, not a guarantee anyone actually knows what they're doing with sterilization.