Most substance abuse treatment facilities allow residents to smoke, government findings show.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported Thursday that 49 percent of mental health and 35 percent of substance abuse treatment facilities have smoke-free campuses. The agency made recommendations as part of its report to encourage states to expand those numbers, and also to encourage facilities to provide medication, counseling, or nicotine patches or gum to patients who are smokers.
The percentage of smoke-free campuses varied widely among states. Oklahoma had the highest percentage of smoke-free mental health campuses in the country, at 77.7 percent, and New York had the highest percentage of smoke-free addiction centers, at 83 percent. Idaho had the lowest rates in both categories, with 19.9 percent of mental health facilities and 10 percent of addiction centers reporting they are smoke-free.
Government officials say people who have mental health disorders or abuse drugs are more than twice as likely to smoke cigarettes as people who who do not, and that people are more likely to stay away from drugs if they also quit tobacco.
The study found that 49 percent of mental health centers and 64 percent of addiction centers reported screening patients for tobacco use.
It also found that 37.6 percent of mental health facilities offered counseling to help people quit smoking, 25.2 percent offered such as nicotine patches or gum, and 21.5 percent offered medications that help people quit.
Among addiction treatment facilities, 47.4 percent offered counseling to quit smoking, 26.2 percent offered nicotine patches or gum, and 20.3 percent offered medications that help people quit.
“Too many smokers lack access to proven interventions that could ultimately help them quit smoking,” said Corinne Graffunder, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. “Many people with mental health and substance abuse disorders want to stop smoking and are able to quit, and can do it with help.”
Smoking has declined dramatically in the U.S. During the past five decades, smoking rates fell from 42 percent to 15.5 percent in 2016. Despite that reduction, smoking remains the top cause of preventable death in the U.S., contributing to 480,000 deaths a year.
