Alcohol And Drug Rehab Centers Will Treat Cigarette Smoking If New Law Passes

New York could become the first state requiring all outpatient addiction treatment programs to help their clients quit smoking under proposed legislation. The law would only encourage alcoholics and drug addicts to quit smoking, not require it. Those who agree to quit smoking would be provided with treatment including drugs to relieve cravings, while patients who refuse to quit could still be treated for other addictions as long as they don't smoke in the treatment facilities. The ban would also apply to treatment center workers. Whether this will increase the success rates of alcohol and drug rehab is in dispute.

New Jersey has required residential addiction programs to treat nicotine addiction and be smoke-free since 2001, but officials in New York say it would be the first state to require smoking cessation efforts in outpatient programs, which account for two-thirds of the 1,100 treatment alcohol and drug rehab programs in the state. Programs in New York that fail to comply with the smoking regulations could lose state certification and would have to stop treating clients.

It has generally been thought that asking patients to quit smoking while fighting addictions to alcohol or drugs like heroin or cocaine is asking too much. But state officials say a deeper understanding about addiction "triggers" and the dangers of tobacco itself have changed the consensus. Karen M. Carpenter-Palumbo, the commissioner of the substance abuse agency that oversees all state-sanctioned alcohol and drug rehab facilities, said in a written statement, "We now know that's not true. Including tobacco dependence while treating other addictions actually leads to higher recovery success rates. We need to focus on the overall wellness of our patients and not ignore this deadly addiction."

However, the higher recovery success rates Carpenter-Palumbo refers to are disputed in the scientific community. One recent study from the University of Minnesota found that recovery rates are actually lower if patients are weaned off cigarettes while they are trying to break free of alcohol or drugs. And according to Dr. Richard Hurt, the director of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic, most studies have shown that treating nicotine addiction along with alcohol and drug addiction has no effect on treatment effectiveness.

According to the U.S. National Institute against Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), between 80 and 95 per cent of alcoholics smoke cigarettes - three times higher than among the general population. And a recent Research Society on Alcoholism study using advanced magnetic resonance imaging on human brains found that cigarette smoking not only worsens alcohol-induced brain damage (which was already known) it also causes brain damage by itself. And there are strong links between some forms of cancer and the combination of drinking and smoking.

So it seems uncertain at this point if quitting smoking will help alcohol and drug abusers recover from their addictions and stay clean after completing alcohol or drug rehab. But even if only for the improvements in long-term mental and physical health, it seems to be a good idea to try quitting smoking while recovering from addiction at an alcohol or drug rehab center.

Top Reasons to Stop Smoking

There are an infinite number of reasons to stop smoking; be it because of you health, the effect it is having on your family, or simply your ever decreasing bank balance. No matter why you have made the decision; it is the right decision. Here are a few more excellent reasons to urge you on

Despite what you may've been led to believe through your life, smoking is neither cool, nor sexy.

Before we knew just how damaging smoking was for us, it did look cool for a man to have a cigarette gently hanging from the corner of his mouth; or for a woman to seductively draw on her with her big rouge lips.

Now, people just see some sad and uninteresting fools, often huddling alone on a street corner somewhere.

Which moves us swiftly on to another top reason to stop smoking; you aren't a fully paid up member of society.

Times are changing, with there being an increasing number of places where you are not allowed to smoke inside. Indeed, there are many places with laws prohibiting smoking in some external areas.

Essentially therefore, smokers are nothing more than pariahs; second class citizens, undesirables, and any other such superlatives you can think of!

Okay, so we have established that you look a little bit sad and are considered a little bit sad by everyone else. But what of you yourself; it doesn't get much better.

For a start, you absolutely reek to high heaven; all the time. Okay, so you can have a nice shower in that wonderfully scented Aloe Vera, Ylang-Ylang, Jasmine and Passion Fruit, Tropical Sunshine Exfoliating Shower Cream. But then you go and light up, and you smell like a dog's... You get the picture I am sure.

Then of course you have no real sense of smell, (which is lucky in many ways as you cannot smell your own stench), or indeed and sense of taste. No matter whether you are eating at your local Taco Bell or Chef Ramsay's latest venture in Manhattan, you can't taste jack.

Second-Hand Smoking - Smoking Law Change in South Africa

Imagine yourself in your home in South Africa. It is a quiet moment, as you relax in front of the TV, or maybe you are in your garden enjoying the sunshine. Birds are singing in the trees, the sky is blue, you have earned a well-deserved time off and you feel good.

All of a sudden, you are ambushed. Two heroin addicts have broken into your home and are pinning you down. You cannot move. One is preparing a hypodermic needle. You instinctively know it has heroin in it and you want to scream "No!" but you are held down and silenced and there is nothing you can do but watch as the needle sinks into your vein and you feel the drug in your blood, along with whatever impurities were added to it. The heroin addicts saunter away, smirking at you, for even trying to stop this assault.

The next day, your body goes through a terrible reaction to the after-effects of this toxic injection. You become ill and have to take time off work. And just as you thought it was safe, the heroin addicts break into your home, one pins you down, and the other is holding a syringe and smirking at you. You know what is going to happen next and you are powerless to stop it...

Imagine this happening every day in your own home. Imagine that you now have to keep all your windows closed at all times, keep your eye on the lock, and be careful all the time. And then, when you think you are safe to go out to work or the shops, all of a sudden, you are ambushed again. You recognize the heroin addicts. Only this time there are four of them, you see the needle, you see them smirking at you, and you feel sick to your stomach knowing what is about to happen to you...

It is really awful, is it not? But if you are a smoker smoking illegally, then you are that addict. You are forcing your neighbour to take a drug that they choose not to take. You are forcing them to take this drug into their bloodstream whether they like it or not. If your workplace is near someone's home and you force them to smoke when you do, you are just like those heroin-injecting thugs in this story. It is one thing being an addict, and of course, the addiction is just that - something one cannot help. However, the law is now here to stop you from forcing innocent people to take your drug in their bloodstream.

Not convinced? Here are some facts that you may be interested in...

    * The owner of a workplace, including pub, bar, restaurant, beauty salon, hairdresser, or any other workplace can be fined up to R50,000 if their premises breach the smoking laws.
    * Not only can the owner of this establishment be fined, but you personally can be fined R500 for smoking in a non-smoking zone.
    * Non-smoking zones include partially enclosed public places such as covered patios (such as by a roof or awnings), verandas, balconies, walkways, lifts, and parking areas.You can face up to your addiction and do something about it. Quitting may be much easier than you think.

Everyone should have the right to choose and the right to freedom. Nobody is taking away a smoker's addiction. That is a smoker's right. It was my right too when I was a smoker, and I know from experience how I just could not cope without nicotine. I would not suggest taking away an addict's drug; that is their choice, and that choice must be respected. I have been there myself. However, now it is now law that smokers must not take their drug in forms that are harmful to others in public places. And that also must be respected.