Consigning Cigarettes to the Dustbin of History
The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded a grant of $1.9 million to expand Taking Texas Tobacco Free (TTTF), a program aimed at reducing tobacco use among individuals with psychiatric disorders or substance dependencies.
Lorraine Reitzel, Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Houston and director of TTTF, emphasized the need for change in the status quo of tobacco use care in Texas. She stated that tobacco use is causally related to multiple cancers and is responsible for 30% of cancer deaths.
TTTF employs key methods of education and unburdening the person who is struggling, with the goal of increasing the reach of tobacco use interventions to patients and achieving abstinence among engaged employees and patients. The expansion of TTTF will bring the program to 18 substance use treatment centers and 10 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Texas.
Reitzel also highlighted the high smoking rates among Texans with psychiatric disorders or substance dependencies, which can reach up to 87%. She noted that perfunctory screening for tobacco use is common in health care agencies, but that they are not offering services for tobacco cessation, not screening adequately, and not referring people to a tobacco-quit line.
Reitzel stated that the old way of thinking among clinicians about quitting tobacco interfering with substance use disorder treatment must be extinguished. She explained that quitting tobacco involves a combination of therapy and medication, and that it's possible to successfully treat multiple substances at a time, which can help prevent relapses.
The organizations supported with the grant are opioid treatment centers and agencies serving women with behavioral health needs in Texas, with principal investigators including Dr. Lorraine R. Reitzel and Dr. Jennifer A. Minnix from MD Anderson Cancer Center. Their projects focus on tobacco-free workplace programs and expanding capacity for tobacco use interventions within these behavioral health settings.
Since its inception, TTTF has educated more than 13,000 professionals about tobacco, and its educational materials have reached about 645,000 others. The expansion of TTTF is expected to make a significant impact in reducing tobacco use among vulnerable populations in Texas.
