Smoke Job

Not so long ago, smokers were ENCOURAGED to smoke though they knew the detriments and addictions of doing it. Advertising specially directed to youth . But of course this was ok then and overlooked because everyone was making money.- Businesses and the government. Now health conscious people want it stopped without looking at or caring about what it took to instill the process and what it will take to stop the habit. Now we have people belittling smokers who cannot stop the vicious cycle. It is an addiction. There are right and wrong ways of doing things and I am ashamed of the manner in which smokers have been treated. It is not that smokers think it is all about them but rather they have rights too. Where are the people responsible for all of this? What are they doing to right the wrong they pushed for so many years? Nothing. Just push smokers to designated areas which get smaller and smaller or non existent, scowl at them, like they are intentionally trying to affect you. So much for giving a hoot for your fellow man.

a disservice to our patience?
a disservice to our patience?
a disservice to our patience?

A disservice to our patieNTS!

This is absurd. The government has no more right to control what substances the public uses and when and where they use them than they do to tell us what to eat. At this rate, we'll be getting fed manufactured meals shoveled out of a 40 pound bag like dogs. In "Like What?", the doctor points out that doctors at treatment centers have no say about how long their patients stay. There is no insurance money to allow patients to afford the treatment. No one in the government is holding the insurance companies accountable. Focus on the real damned problems and get your nose the hell out of mu business, government!

Get the government out of our lives!!!! I'm a non-smoker. Quit 4 years ago, after 35 years of smoking. It didn't take the government placing bans on smoking, it took God, and self determiniation!!! STOP THE GOVERNMENT'S intrusions. We're all going to be real sorry one day!! The government will control us completely!! I'm hoping to be dead and gone by that time!! WAKE UP AMERICA!!

It's an enormous step for one to kick cocaine, etc., but to go to a treatment center and to also be FORCED to quit smoking on TOP of kicking drug habits? Addiction is the hardest thing to overcome in life - drug addiction & smoking, topping the charts. To kick both at the same time is RIDICULOUS. Here's the problem - THE PEOPLE WHO ARE MAKING THE RULES AND REGULATIONS DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE ADDICTED!

I guess I won't be moving to New York or California any time soon. I like the fact that Virginia doesn't try to be a parent all the time.

This ban is bullsh*t, based on slim science and moral prudery. There are a few studies suggesting somewhat "better" results from nicotine cessation simultaneously with addiction treatment, but there is NO evidence to suggest that continuing to smoke "increases the likelihood of treatment failure" (as one poster claims). Much more research would be needed to prove the latter claim, particularly as it runs counter to most historical models. Anecdotally, I have seen many addicts recover from drug and alcohol abuse, and whether they did or did not smoke had nothing to do with their success. Nicotine is a deeply misunderstood drug, with many beneficial mental health properties. Its conveyance device (i.e., tobacco products) is terrible, especially when processed into chemically-enhanced cigarettes. Even still, smoking should be an individual choice as long as tobacco products remain legal. We tried Prohibition once before, and found out that it doesn't work.

LOL, dont you jut hate new York? LOL
www.FireMe.To/udi

Wow all of you making comments about the cost of health care...you pay too much attention to the ads on TV. What about all the people that have 5 babies at a time because they are on fertility drugs...who do you think pays for their hospital care for the months and months it takes to get them better. I don't see anyone up in arms about stuff like that. Incidentally, this article is about smoking in rehab facilities. I believe that most people have to pay for their own treatment.

I am surpirsed by Dr. Drew's ambiguous endorsement (or not) of this regualtion. All of the latest research suggests that not to address nicotine addiction along with the other substances will increase the liklihood of treatment failure. Smoking is usually a ritualistic and integral part of substance abuse behavoir. The ONLY difference between smoking (nicotine addiction) and other addictive substances is that tobacco is legal! It would be interesting to see long term studies comparing other substances with tobacco with respect to causal disease and death. I would bet tobacco smoking would be high (if not the highest) on the list. Since the average pack a day smoker will die 14 years earlier that a nonsmoker, to not aggressively address smoking in this setting amounts to malpractice in my view. Most smokers also do not live a healthy productive life in those last 10-14 years either, so from a population perspective, are you truly helping this group to lead healthy lives?? The answer is NO. Most of those who die of smoking related diseases, die (or live) anguishing under the worst of circumstances. This regulation should, without a doubt, be incorporated into every addiction treatment center!

Really, ALL of your 20-year sober patients have died from lung cancer from smoking? Seems a little hard for me to believe.

Who is transcribing these interviews? "...if we don't deal with the nicotine addiction as well, we are really doing a disservice to our PATIENCE" when what was said was patients. And the reference to "patients rights" should be possessive, i.e., patients' rights. This is really basic composition and I find it shocking that Newsweek would post this before correcting these obvious errors.