Drug and alcohol addiction treatment results improved when teens stopped smoking

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/cwru-da112116.php

Public Release: 21-Nov-2016
Drug and alcohol addiction treatment results improved when teens stopped smoking
Case Western Reserve University researcher finds smoking cessation associated with lowered drug and alcohol cravings
Case Western Reserve University

A Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine researcher has found that addiction treatment results improved when teens in a residential program stopped smoking. The findings are published in a new study in the November issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. They hold important implications for success in treating addiction since up to three out of four people with such disorders are smokers, a significantly higher proportion than the overall national smoking rate of one out of every four Americans.

The study found that teens who stopped smoking benefited from lower cravings for alcohol and drugs, and did as well as their peers who smoked in terms of treatment duration, 12-step participation, and global functioning (a numeric scale used by mental health professionals to rate how well clients respond to various psychological and social situations and difficulties). In contrast, young people in the study who smoked were discharged with significantly higher cravings for alcohol and drugs, which has been shown to increase the risk of relapse.

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tags: drug abuse, drug use