Changes in tobacco smoking following treatment for cocaine dependence.
Incorporation of smoking cessation into cocaine treatment programs remains a challenge. A major concern is that cocaine abusers may tend to substitute one drug for the other. If this is true, successful treatment of cocaine abuse should lead to an increase in tobacco smoking. We compared tobacco smoking at admission, end of treatment and 9-month follow up for 168 crack cocaine dependent patients entering a 12-week outpatient treatment program for substance abuse. Smoking cessation was not a part of treatment. As expected cocaine patients improved with treatment and showed significant reduction in scores on the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). There were no significant changes in number of cigarettes smoked per day or scores on the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine dependence (FTND) from baseline to end of treatment or follow-up. Also, there were no differences in the proportions of nonsmokers and smokers who changed their smoking habits over the treatment and follow up period. At follow up subjects who were abstinent as well as those using cocaine showed no changes in tobacco smoking. There is no evidence that reduction in crack cocaine smoking following treatment is accompanied by an increase in tobacco smoking. It appears that concerns over tobacco being substituted for cocaine may be unfounded in this population.
Patkar
Ashwin A
AA
Department of Psychiatry Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27704, USA. Ashwin.Patkar@duke.edu
Mannelli
Paolo
P
Peindl
Kathleen
K
Murray
Heather W
HW
Meier
Bradley
B
Leone
Frank T
FT
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D016578:Crack Cocaine; D005260:Female; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015143:Philadelphia; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D014505:Urban Population
D016578:Crack Cocaine