Smoking Allowed in Designated Area - Alcohol and Drug Treatment Programs - South St. Paul, MN.

It is estimated that around 75% of clients at residential rehabilitation centers for drug and alcohol addiction are smokers. While it is true that nicotine is addicting and clients in rehab for addiction should strive to be free from all addictive substances, this can present problems that make enforcing a non-smoking facility outweigh the advantages of this restriction. A person who is addicted to a substance as life threatening as drugs and alcohol might not agree to go to treatment if they must quit smoking cigarettes, so many programs in South St. Paul allow smoking with certain restrictions, limitations and in designated areas of their facility.

Some facilities allow clients to smoke anywhere, so long as it is outdoors for example. Some programs have a designated smoking area, which is the only area that clients can smoke. Due to the fact that nicotine is an addictive substance, even treatment programs that have a designated area and allow smoking usually introduce alternatives to smoking if the client would like to consider this as an option, such as nicotine replacement gum, patches and prescriptions. There are also facilities which allow smoking in designated areas, but provide education on the health risks associated with smoking by incorporating this into their program either by way of direct education or by offering educational literature for clients to consider. In facilities which permit smoking in designated areas this is typically only approved for clients, and staff are sometimes restricted from smoking at the facility or are asked to not smoke in front of clients.

Publicly funded substance abuse rehabilitation centers are obligated by the rules and restrictions in regards to smoking that are imposed by state and federal agencies which oversee and administer these programs. Private treatment centers have a little more tolerance and don't have as many restrictions imposed on them, so may be more likely to offer designated areas for smoking.

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