GUILDERLAND — On Monday, smoking stopped for both patients and staff at St. Peter’s Addiction Recovery Center. SPARC is the first of 14 other Capital Region chemical dependency agencies banning tobacco throughout all of their treatment centers by Feb. 14, 2007.

The SPARC inpatient rehabilitation program is located on Mercycare Lane just behind the Guilderland Public Library on Route 20.

Outpatient clinics in Albany, Ballston Spa, Cohoes, Latham, and Rotterdam will all follow the tobacco-free trend on May 1.
"Tobacco kills more than all of the other drugs combined," said Janice Prichett, director of SPARC outpatient services and chair of the Tobacco Recovery Coalition of the Capital District. "We are doing this for the quality of life for our patients."

Previously, SPARC patients and staff were allowed to smoke on-premise if they were outdoors. On Monday, all tobacco use was prohibited inside and out.

Patients and staff at chemical-dependency treatment agencies around New York State have been prohibited from smoking indoors since the statewide Clear Air Act took effect in 2003.
"We’ve been preparing for this for a long time," Prichett told The Enterprise, and added, "We will probably have some difficulty at first."

All of the SPARC patients are voluntarily receiving treatment, either as part of a plea-bargain through the court system or admitted on their own recognizance.

When asked if a smoking ban would deter volunteers from continuing treatment, Prichett said she expects enrollment to drop initially, but, after the first month or so, enrollment will return to normal, and maybe even increase.
"Sometimes there is a slight dip"Recent data shows only a short drop in enrollment," said Prichett.

Dr. Howard Henry, a former treatment clinician who is currently a professor in the Health and Wellness Department at Buffalo State College, says the Stutzman Addiction Treatment Center, where he worked for 30 years, initiated a similar ban several years ago. The tobacco ban was the first in the area, said Henry, and he saw no significant drop in enrollment as a result.

According to a study done by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the average smoking rate of the general population in the United States is around 25 percent, and the average in those who are chemically dependent is 80 to 95 percent.
In another study done by Dr. J. Taylor Hays, associate medical director of the nicotine dependency center at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Hayes and his colleagues reported that 58-percent of their subjects smoked in order to "cope with urges to drink alcohol."
"In terms of addictions, most users have a drug of choice"So when people continue to smoke cigarettes, it is a substitute that keeps the craving alive," Henry said.
"Experience and understanding of recent years makes it no longer possible to tolerate or support smoking in any fashion as a responsible health care provider," said Robert Doherty, executive director of SPARC, in a statement.

The initiative was announced at a press conference last month, at the Guilderland SPARC, and was coordinated by the Tobacco Recovery Coalition of the Capital District, which was formed in 2004.
"It’s just a good idea," said Richard Chady from St. Peter’s Corporate Communications office. "Nicotine addition is a very serious problem in our society."
"Certainly there’s a connection between alcohol and cigarettes," said Henry, who explained that neurotransmitters like dopamine and endorphins in the brain are stimulated by alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes, which in return stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain and helps drive addiction.
"When alcohol is broken down in the body, one of the first byproducts is acetaldehyde"There is this acetaldehyde in the cigarette smoke," added Henry. Acetaldehyde is the first toxin created by alcohol metabolism or alcohol breakdown in the body. It is a carcinogen also found in cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and embalming fluid.

Workers affected

The ban will not only affect the clients seeking recovery, but the employees as well.

One worker at St. Peter’s Hospital, told The Enterprise that the ban is unfair to workers.
"We work long hours and smoke only on our breaks. Now we have to walk even further away and have less time for our breaks," she said, adding that she’s worked at the hospital for over 10 years and may start looking for a new job.
"What about our rights" I know the risks of smoking and already pay outrageous prices for [cigarettes]. Now I can’t even smoke on my own break," she added. "Fifteen minutes isn’t enough time to walk out here and make it back inside on time; I’m already stressed enough at work."

Henry agrees that the transition will be hard for rehab workers who he said work very long hours and are subject to great amounts of stress throughout their day. He also said agencies should establish wellness programs for employees, which in return would make workers more productive, and use fewer sick days.
"For employees who are smokers, the agency should offer an assistance program to help them quit. It shouldn’t be left up to them," said Henry. "Not everyone can stop smoking; it is a terrible addiction."
"Tobacco use is the greatest cause of disease and death in our county, responsible for more than 430,000 deaths in the United States each year," the Tobacco Recovery Coalition said in a release. "Studies indicate that up to 92 percent of people with chemical dependencies smoke compared with to the average smoking rate"of about 22 percent."

Henry agrees with rehabilitation center’s decision to ban smoking and commended efforts for local centers to band together, saying, when his addiction center banned tobacco, it was the only one in the area to do so.
"To do away with all of it is the most sensible," Henry said about tobacco bans during rehabilitation and recovery. "It’s hard to give up any addiction. Nicotine patches could be used to wean them down."

The Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services has recently offered draft regulations that would require all licensed treatment providers around the state to become tobacco-free, but has not yet set an effective date.

The local agencies pledging to have smoke-free treatment centers include: Albany County Substance Abuse; 820 River Street, Inc.; Conifer Park; Hudson-Mohawk Recovery; SPARC; Albany Citizens Council on Alcoholism and Other Chemical Dependencies, Inc.; Homer Perkins Center; PAHL House; Pearl Street Counseling Center; Whitney M. Young Jr. Health Center Substance Abuse FACTS & MMTP Programs; Seton Addiction Services; Senior Hope; Equinox; Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Council of Schenectady County; and Twin County Recovery.