Stop the Smoke

I have to admit to being a bit surprised about the results of our latest completed Web poll, on treatment center policies toward smoking. Three of every five respondents to the survey said their addiction treatment program does not require clients who smoke to participate in a smoking cessation program. The idea of behavioral health facilities addressing smoking head-on is hardly brand new. A good number of psychiatric hospitals began taking steps to make their environments smoke-free earlier this decade, and integrating tobacco cessation into alcohol and drug addiction treatment was one of the earliest feature topics we covered in Addiction Professional. I found it interesting that none of the respondents who said their facilities did not require participation in smoking cessation activity offered any written explanation. So, by default, the floor goes to the one respondent who rebuked their approach: That person wrote, "Nicotine dependence is drug addiction. It is the height of hypocrisy and double standard to have people claim to be in recovery and sober from drugs while they are puffing away on a drug that kills more people than all other drugs, alcohol, HIV and suicide combined."