Hope House Nicotine Policy
For seven years, our men’s residential addiction recovery program has been a tobacco and nicotine-free environment. With the addition of our women’s program in 2022, we began to reassess our nicotine policy. We came to the conclusion that residents of Program Living are allowed to smoke e-cigarettes, provided that they are only used at designated areas on Hope House property and residents purchase them through Hope House to ensure there are no other substances being ingested. Residents are also allowed to use tobacco-less options, such as nicotine gum, patches, lozenges, etc.
In coming to this conclusion, we consulted medical professionals, medically based articles on the subject of nicotine, professionals in the addiction recovery field and referenced other recovery programs’ policies regarding nicotine. We decided to allow tobacco-free nicotine in our program for several reasons, as follows. While e-cigarettes and nicotine supplements are not without some health risks, it is widely agreed by medical professionals that they are far safer than smoking traditional tobacco cigarettes. In many cases, nicotine is helpful for a person addicted to drugs or alcohol during their initial recovery. In fact, the use of nicotine may actually be beneficial for residents during the program, specifically regarding focus during Bible study and other classes. Paul Newhouse from the Center of Cognitive Medicine at Vanderbilt University said, “Nicotine may be as effective as Ritalin for improving attention in people with ADHD.”
We have seen, especially with our new women’s addiction recovery program, that nicotine withdrawal and cravings are often a catalyst for a resident deciding to leave the program. Ultimately, the resident will return to not only his or her nicotine use, but also the use and abuse of drugs and/or alcohol, which is far more life-threatening than any negative side-effects of nicotine. We simply do not believe that the risk of a person returning to drug and alcohol abuse is worth the removal of nicotine from their lifestyle, at least during their initial recovery.
Most, if not all, residents who have graduated Program Living for Men began using some form of nicotine after graduation, even after being nicotine-free while in the program for 12 months. Many of these men have maintained their sobriety from drugs and alcohol, and there is no indication that their use of nicotine is hindering their recovery. When we considered the fact that most residents will return to using nicotine after graduation despite being nicotine-free during the program, we could no longer justify our policy to ban nicotine and in some cases, remove a resident from the program for repeated use. If our nicotine policy was going to be a barrier to a person hearing the gospel and rebuilding their lives free from drug and alcohol addiction, it simply was not worth the cost.
While in the program, residents will participate in a class to learn the negative effects of tobacco and long-term nicotine use through QuitNowKentucky. Residents will also have free access to an online coaching program to quit their use of tobacco and nicotine, as well as quit medications. We are hopeful that this education and access to support will encourage more residents to quit long-term, rather than requiring abstinence for one year with the likelihood that residents will return to nicotine and tobacco use after graduation.
As always, this decision was made with current and future residents’ well-being in mind. Ultimately, it is most important to us that a resident hears the gospel and has a chance to respond, and that they have ample amount of time, resources, and support to end their drug and alcohol addictions to live the rest of their lives free from life-altering addictions.