WELLINGTON, Kan. (AP) — The Sumner County jail has begun offering inmates e-cigarettes as a way to offset costs for supplies.

KAKE-TV reports inmates have been able to buy regular and menthol e-cigarettes through their commissary account since the first of January. The cigarettes sell for $12 each, and the jail makes about $4 profit on each one. The money is used to buy jail supplies like clothing, bedding and other items.

Sheriff Darren Chambers says jails that offer e-cigarettes have noticed they have a calming effect on inmates, with fewer fights breaking out.

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that resemble traditional cigarettes. They heat a liquid solution, creating vapor that users inhale to get nicotine without the smoke of regular cigarettes.

E-cigarettes for jails are made of soft plastic instead of metal.