Drop That Last Vice: Quit Smoking
Drop That Last Vice: Quit Smoking
November 21 marks the Great American Smokeout, the 38th time that the American Cancer Society has sponsored the day. ACS offers the day as a target for smokers to quit. For one day, but ideally, forever. The list of diseases that smoking causes is long and the list of conditions it worsens is even longer.
For some people struggling with addiction, smoking gets ignored. One reason is the attitude of ‘at least smoking is legal’ or ‘I’m giving up everything else; I gotta have something.’ Another reason (or excuse) is that people fear that trying to stop smoking during treatment will jeopardize the treatment. But is that really the case?
Studies say no. Most studies say that stopping smoking while treating alcohol or drug addiction does not endanger that treatment. Adding nicotine sobriety can even improve the chances that the patient will not relapse.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an 11-year study that looked back at people in addiction treatment found that half of those who died did so because of smoking-related causes, not because of the drugs or alcohol that sent them to treatment. That is twice the rate of deaths from nicotine in the general population and 1.5 times the rate of death by other addiction-related causes.
That should be a sobering thought. Many things about addiction can kill you: The drugs or alcohol, specifically. The associated behaviors, like drunk driving or spending time with violent people or criminals just to get drugs. The diseases linked to smoking seem not to make the list, although they include lung cancer, emphysema, stroke and heart attack.
Make that final change, so smoking is not that ‘one last vice’ you hold onto. Every year there are more options to help you quit smoking—gum, patches, meds and now e-cigarettes, although the jury is still out on their dangers.
You’ve done a lot to help yourself. You’ve gotten treatment for drugs and/or alcohol and have learned a lot about yourself in the process, lessons that can help you quit smoking, too. Put those to use on November 21 and put down the smokes for good.
