Smoking in Drug Rehab

Active Addiction Allowed in Rehab?

I picked up tobacco again while I was in drug treatment

Email From Person Seeking Nicotine Addiction Treatment

Smoking in drug rehab. I quit smoking tobacco 8 years ago. When I discovered I was pregnant, I found the willingness to stop using nicotine. Having a clean air environment for my son to grow and thrive in was important to me, and I stayed stopped. For 8 long years.Although I was able to put down the cancer sticks, I wasn’t able to put down my nightly glass of wine. Over the years, this glass turned into 2, then 3, then the full bottle, and then one bottle more. One morning my son was asking me why I was sleeping on the floor. I knew I needed help.I found a good treatment center, where I hoped to learn the tools to live an alcohol free life. I didn’t think that I would come back home with several packs of cigarettes, and a nicotine craving that wouldn’t stop.There was one designated smoking area, and at every chance, everyone was outside puffing away. I decided I would just go out to join my fellow addicts to socialize. Treatment is hard enough without feeling left out of the group. You know the rest of the story. I was soon puffing right along with the rest of them. And the addiction took off with a vengeance. I found another way to stuff my feelings. During sessions, I found myself looking at the clock, and especially during the very emotionally difficult ones. I needed the nicotine to push those feelings back down. And it worked.I wish that I had been able to find a treatment center that was smoke free. The last thing I needed was to come home from rehab with a renewed and active addiction to nicotine. I pray to my Higher Power for the willingness to put the tobacco down, but I find it comforting to join the other smokers at the 12 Step meetings I attend. People there tell me ‘one addiction at a time’. I'm confused, because I just attended the funeral of an old-timer that died ‘sober’, but from lung cancer. I hate it! It stinks! I get angry, but I know I am responsible for my own actions. But I still feel angry toward the facility that allowed smoking and for this to happen. 

-Sarah H.

Complete Abstinence From Addiction in Rehab

Serenity Vista Addiction Recovery Retreat in the beautiful mountain highlands of Boquete is leading the way in residential nicotine addiction treatment. We know that nicotine is the deadliest drug of addiction there is. In Costa Rica alone, it kills 10 people per day. Alcohol, cocaine and the opiates combined don’t come even close to that number.We welcome anyone to Serenity Vista regardless of the addiction they are suffering from. Serenity Vista is smoke free where nicotine addiction is treated with the same seriousness as for other drug addictions. We also offer treatment for codependency, gambling, sex and food addictions. The solution is the same, a holistic program that treats body, mind and spirit in a safe and outstandingly beautiful environment.