Some Treatment Centers offer Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Individuals struggling to overcome a cigarette addiction often relapse many times before they are able to quit. Not only are physiological challenges involved, but there are also many social cues related to smoking that make it very difficult for individuals to resist cravings.
Many people who have a tobacco addiction are also affected by alcohol or drug addiction. It is common for those checking into a substance abuse treatment centers to be identified as a smoker, and enrollment in a treatment center for substance abuse is an opportunity to address the addiction to tobacco as well.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released a report in cooperation with the “Great American Smokeout” by The American Cancer Society. The report showed that substance abuse treatment centers are increasingly offering nicotine replacement therapy as a strategy for eliminating a tobacco addiction.
The report indicated that between 2006 and 2009, there was an increase of approximately 6 percentage points in the assessment of substance abuse treatment facilities that offered nicotine replacement therapy. In 2009, 2,613 of 13, 513 facilities surveyed were using nicotine replacement therapy, which is a 13 percent increase since 2006.
As the report noted, tobacco addiction is the single most preventable cause of death, with approximately 440,000 deaths per year attributable to tobacco use in the United States. Nearly half of the deaths were among people that also had mental and substance use disorders.
The SAMHSA report encouraged the use of nicotine replacement therapy as a safe and effective way of promoting smoking cessation. Methods of nicotine replacement include patches, gum and lozenges, and the smokers who use them are often successful at quitting. The SAMHSA report indicates that smokers who use this strategy are twice as likely to quit smoking as smokers who use other methods.
The authors of the report believe that the increase in nicotine replacement therapy in substance abuse treatment facilities reveals a trend in recognizing the need to treat the whole person. The decision to treat a person’s nicotine addiction with replacement therapy can be “a life-saving difference to people who are also often addicted to tobacco and tobacco products,” says SAMSHA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D.
In honor of the “Great American Smokeout,” SAMHSA encourages all substance abuse treatment facilities to implement plans to assist their patients in smoking cessation. Enrollment in a substance abuse treatment facility is the perfect opportunity to screen these individuals for additional problems that may affect their recovery and their quality of life.
