Concurrent smoking cessation treatment with other substance abuse disorders leads to nicotine abstinence in 10% of clients in outpatient SA treatment

There is an article in the July 2008 issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment which found that there were no negative effects of providing smoking cessation treatment concurrently with other alcohol and drug treatment, and when smoking cessation was offered concurrently 10% of clients stopped smoking during the course of treatment and 5 -6% were still abstinent of nicotine at 13 and 26 week follow-up. Here is a snippet from the abstact:

Smoking abstinence rates in SC, 10%–11% during treatment and 5%–6% at the 13- and 26-week follow-up visits, were significantly better than those in TAU during treatment (p < .01).

The abtract says a little further:

Smoking cessation did not differ from TAU on rates of retention in substance abuse treatment, abstinence from primary substance of abuse, and craving for primary substance of abuse. Compliance with SC treatment, moderate at best, was positively associated with smoking abstinence rates. Smoking cessation treatment resulted in significant reductions in daily smoking and modest smoking abstinence rates without having an adverse impact on substance abuse rehabilitation when given concurrently with outpatient substance abuse treatment. Substance abuse treatment programs should not hesitate to implement SC for established patients.