Smoking and mental health - NCSCT

Smoking and mental health
> However, prisoners are no less likely than the general population of smokers
to want to quit smoking, and those taking up cessation support enjoy similar
levels of success to the general population.
> As prisons, and wider society, have a duty of care for the health of those
imprisoned, it is essential to challenge the smoking culture of prisons by
making prisons smoke free, and cessation services widely available and
accessible to prisoners and staff.
> Experience from New Zealand indicates that prisons can become smoke free
without serious adverse effects, and that half of all smokers who quit as a
result of imprisonment in a smoke-free facility leave prison intending to
remain non-smokers.
7.3 Smoking and misuse of alcohol or other drugs
7.3.1 Prevalence of alcohol and drug misuse
In 2010 in England, 26% of men and 17% of women were regular users of
alcohol at above recommended safe upper limits, 68 and in 2007 the Adult
Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (AMPS) in England found that 8.7% of men and
3.3% of women are alcohol dependent. 69 For men, 7.8% showed mild
dependence, 0.8% moderate dependence and 0.1% severe dependence. Among
secondary school pupils aged 11–15 in 2010, 13% reported drinking alcohol in
the week before interview. 68
In 2001–12 in England and Wales 8.9% of adults aged 16–59 were reported to
have used an illicit drug at least once in the past year, of which the majority
had used cannabis. 70 Class A drugs (including opiates, cocaine, ecstasy and
LSD) were used by 3% of adults, 70 and opiates and/or crack cocaine by just
under 1%. 71 In 2011, 12% of 11–15 year olds used illegal drugs in the last year
and 6% in the previous month. 68 Numerically these proportions translate into
almost 3 million adults using an illicit drug in the previous year, 70 around
300,000 opiate or crack cocaine users 71 and about 1 million class A drug users.
The prevalence of illicit drug use is highest in 16–24 year olds with 19.3% or
1.3 million using one or more illegal drugs, and 6.3% using class A drugs, in
the last year. 70
7.3.2 Smoking and alcohol or drug misuse
Smoking rates are particularly high among people with alcohol or drug
dependence. About 46% of adults in England who are dependent on alcohol and
69% of those dependent on other drugs are smokers 69 and smoking rates in
excess of 80% have been reported among those in treatment for alcohol or drug
misuse, particularly in the USA. 72,73
140 © Royal College of Physicians 2013