Smoking bans puts pressure on recovering addicts in New York
For many years, alcohol and drug rehabs programs have allowed their patients to continue smoking tobacco cigarettes during treatment. The philosophy behind this contradiction was simple – asking the individual to quit drugs AND nicotine at the same time would create high levels of stress and jeopardize the recovery process.
According to reports, 18% of New York residents smoke, however that figure jumps to a shocking 92%
for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Now that New York has passed a law banning smoking at all 1,500-plus addiction-related facilities in the state, some are concerned about how it will affect those trying to make it through recovery. Will the burden to quit too many things that once be too much of a hurdle to overcome?
Despite concerns, there is significant evidence that indicates that banning smoking in these facilities was the right thing to do.
First, smoking can bring about severe health problems including lung cancer and heart disease. In fact, cigarettes kill more people every year than most illicit drugs combined.
Second, recent research has shown that those individuals who smoke have a higher incidence of relapse after rehab is complete.
Individuals in drug rehab seem to be coming to terms with the ban, and many see it as a good thing.
When New York rehab patient Rafael Castillo started his program he said, “no one’s going to take my cigarettes away.” But now that he has been enrolled for two months, and has not smoked for over a week due to the ban, he says, “I finally decided that if I was going to stop using drugs, I might as well stop chasing cigarettes.”
