COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 6 (UPI) -- Smokers and non-smokers alike were more apt to leave substance abuse treatment centers after a smoking ban was instituted, researchers say.
Co-authors Thomas Gregoire of Ohio State University and Gretchen Hammond of Amethyst Inc., both in Columbus, say the study doesn't mean treatment centers shouldn't try smoking bans, but it highlights the challenges involved.
The study found the number of patients who completed a program at the women's treatment center decreased 28 percentage points -- from 70 percent to 42 percent -- after the center's implementation of a tobacco-free policy, Gregoire says.
"Following the implementation of the new policy, clients were significantly less likely to complete treatment than they were prior to the adoption of tobacco-free policies," Gregoire says in a statement.
Tobacco-free treatment facilities began in New Jersey in the 1990s but many treatment facilities tend to allow patients to smoke because some say treating a person for smoking in addition to other substance abuse would be too difficult and result in failure, Gregoire says.
"Despite the growing body of research about the problems of smoking in treatment facilities, the use of tobacco still retains a protected status in the addictions community and is largely untreated," Gregoire says.
The study appears in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions.
