|
Dear A.G.,
No, it doesn't make sense. With today's knowledge
about the powerful addictive drug, nicotine, smoking
areas for kids in treatment should not be allowed. Less
than a decade ago, many adolescent drug counselors had
learned to tolerate teen-age smoking as a minor part
of these youngster's drug problem. This attitude resulted
mainly from what they then knew about adult smokers.
After all, compared to "harder" drugs, tobacco
did seem relatively harmless. Cigarettes didn't ruin
relationships, lead to bankruptcy, cause highway deaths,
disrupt families, or incite violence. Of course, these
counselors knew about the long term health problems
but they saw no reason to come up with quick solutions.
Getting off cigarettes was not part of their immediate
therapeutic goal.
In
most good centers, things have changed. Counselors began
to see that most of the teens who entered treatment
to kick a host of other drug habits, would to rant and
rave when they were told no smoking would be allowed.
This stimulated most counselors to include smoking as
a part of a youngster's drug history. As a result, they
were forced to agree with many subsequent studies which
conclude that nicotine, not alcohol or cannabis, is
the most common drug of entry for young addicts.
Compared to non-smokers, 12 to 17 year olds who smoke
are twice as likely to drink; ten times as likely to
take upper and downers or smoke pot; and fourteen times
as likely to use cocaine or heroin. These studies have
been confirmed several times over, leaving no doubt
as to its relationship. Conclusion?...... Take any and
every step deemed necessary to prevent your child from
smoking. (Note to parents who are still smokers: Whether
you deny it or not, should your child also become a
smoker or, later, become addicted to alcohol or other
drugs, because of your example, you must bare full responsibility
for your share in causing the problem)
Even
when nicotine addiction doesn't lead to the use of harder
drugs, other effects on our kids can be significant.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that smoking
habits are related to a student's level of accomplishment
in school: slightly more than half of all high school
students with an A average have never smoked, compared
with about an eighth of those with a D average. About
one in seven students with an A average are current
daily smokers, compared to about half of all D students.
And, while less than 2% of A students smoke a pack a
day, more than 23% of D students smoke at least one
pack a day. We owe a lot to the tobacco industry, don't
we?
These
statistics don't definitively prove that tobacco causes
later drug problems or school dysfunction but the data
sure indicates one powerful relationship. We need knowledgeable
teachers who understand this relationship. Society,
through its political leaders, must continue to take
all appropriate steps to make tobacco products less
available to children. Most important, parents and other
caretakers must become a good example by their own nonuse
of the drug and take appropriate preventative and disciplinary
steps to discourage tobacco use by their kids.
As
for the treatment facility that allows kids to smoke,
I would hope that the administrators and professional
staff get up to date and put as much thought and expertise
into getting kids off cigarettes as I assume they do
with any other drug. I know that I would not send any
child of mine to a treatment center which allows its
patients to smoke.
|
