Russ Callaghan, Associate Professor, Northern Medical Program
A new study from the Faculty of Medicine has found that tobacco-related illnesses accounted for a surprisingly large number of deaths among individuals diagnosed with alcohol- and drug-use disorders, such as smoking-related cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases.
In the study, recently published in Drug and Alcohol Review, Russ Callaghan, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Northern Medical Program in Prince George, looked at hospital and death records in California over a 15-year period of individuals diagnosed with an alcohol- or drug-use disorder (alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, opioids, or marijuana).
Dr. Callaghan and his research team found that approximately 40 per cent to 50 per cent of deaths in the alcohol and drug groups were smoking-related. Those with a substance-use disorder diagnosis were at approximately two to four times greater risk of death from a smoking-related cause than individuals of the same age, race, and sex in the general population.
“The prevalence of smoking is extremely high among people with substance-use disorders, approximately two to four times higher than in the general population,” Dr. Callaghan says. “However, tobacco use in this population has usually been overlooked as an important clinical concern, and there is only limited research examining the impacts of smoking-related deaths in these groups.”
“Our study is one of the first to show extremely elevated levels of smoking-related mortality among individuals with primary substance-use disorders related to alcohol, cocaine, opioids, methamphetamine, or marijuana use. The results highlight the importance of addressing nicotine dependence as a key clinical concern and integrating smoking-cessation options into treatment protocols for these individuals.”
While best-practice guidelines in many countries support the integration of concurrent treatment for nicotine dependence and alcohol/drug disorders, most clinical facilities do not offer integrated treatment, primarily because of constraints on resources, lack of capacity to train staff or the unsupported belief that smoking cessation may hinder recovery from alcohol- or drug-use disorders.
Dr. Callaghan plans to continue his research on the topic of smoking-related harms in special populations, including a current focus on youth tobacco-control policies.