Movies about prison life invariably show the use of the cigarette as currency, their value presumably being derived from their cost, portability, and physical addiction. Betting, buying, and bribing, it's all done with cigarettes.

But something more interesting is going on in real prisons, the use of honey buns. At $1.08 each, packed with flavour not found in the mess halls, and 680 calories, 51 grams of sugar and 30 grams of fat, they sell better than anything else at the commissary.

According to the article, they've been used "as currency for trades, as bribes for favors, as relievers for stress and substitutes for addiction. They've become birthday cakes, hooch wines, last meals even ingredients in a massive tax fraud."

Neat!