Newsroom
08.28.23
Why Some Minnesota Treatment Centers are Going Commercial Tobacco-Free to Improve Health
Lung Mind Alliance Convening in June 2023. Credit: Chelsey BadMoccasin
Sadly, smoking is still normalized in many addiction treatment and mental healthcare settings. “Cigarettes have been given out in treatment settings. Still today, breaks are often cigarette breaks. It is finally becoming less common for staff and clients to smoke together,” said Mathern-Jacobson. Often, addressing commercial tobacco addiction is seen as less pressing when compared to other addictions or challenges, and not prioritized in treatment settings. Not offering tobacco treatment keeps smoking rates high and perpetuates the disproportionate negative health impacts of commercial tobacco use on this already vulnerable population.
Abstaining from commercial tobacco use can have significant benefits on mental health and long-term sobriety from drugs and alcohol. According to the LMA, when tobacco treatment is incorporated into addiction treatment, there is a 25 percent increased likelihood of long-term abstinence from alcohol and other drugs. When people transition to tobacco-free living, their mental health can greatly improve, including significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and overall stress.
LMA is working to increase the number of mental health and substance use disorder programs that offer tobacco treatment and that have tobacco-free grounds. By doing so, they can help individuals reach their recovery and wellness goals and add years to their lives.
Mental Health Resources, a nonprofit organization that offers community-based mental health and substance use disorder services to adults and youth recovering from serious mental illness, recently celebrated their 5-year anniversary of going commercial tobacco-free. The organization dedicated significant time to effectively integrate tobacco treatment and support throughout their agency, provide on-going tobacco recovery messaging to staff, and include tobacco education in all on-boarding of new staff. Mental Health Resources has seen a tremendous benefit to going commercial tobacco-free and become a statewide leader in this work. Mental Health Resources has contributed to LMA resource development and action teams, and now provides mentorship to new organizations taking up this work.
In the past year, LMA trained 43 new Tobacco Treatment Specialist in 26 different organizations. The organization is working to build capacity and confidence among Minnesota providers to offer tobacco treatment. “These are our friends, family members, colleagues and community members. Everyone deserves the chance to live at their highest potential,” said Mathern-Jacobson.
Recently, LMA had success in supporting a statewide policy that will make commercial tobacco treatment more accessible to providers and patients. A major barrier for partner organizations was that they were unable to be reimbursed for providing commercial tobacco treatment. Treatment has traditionally been provided in the primary care sector. As treatment shifts into the behavioral health sector, the payment mechanisms have not evolved. Earlier this year, a bill passed that greatly expands the types of providers who can be reimbursed for providing tobacco treatment to people with Medicaid or MNCare.
To learn more about the LMA and efforts to create tobacco-free substance abuse and mental health treatment visit https://www.lung.org/local-content/mn/lung-mind-alliance.
* Commercial tobacco refers specifically to the use of manufactured tobacco products, and not to the sacred, medicinal, and traditional use of tobacco by Indigenous peoples.