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UW-CTRI Researcher Doug Jorenby is a co-author of a paper regarding the first study to assess smoking relapse in men who experienced a statewide prison smoking ban. Principal investigator Jim Sosman and his colleagues found that, in general, those who planned to stay smoke-free after release were abstinent, and those who planned to return to smoking did so once out of prison. The paper is published in the February edition of the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research.
Researcher Laura Thibodeau interviewed a sample of 49 men incarcerated in a smoke-free Wisconsin prison one month before and after release. Of the 67 percent who wanted to remain smoke-free, 82 percent reported abstinence after the first month.
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Asked before release whether they intended to return to smoking, 22 percent answered “yes.” A month post-release, 39 percent had relapsed. “Intent to smoke out of prison was a very strong predictor,” Doug said. “About 20 percent of those polled prior to release admitted to illegally smoking in prison, so many of them probably never quit.” Ninety-one percent of participants thought a quit-smoking program upon release would be helpful. Doug said he and his colleagues—Sosman, Thibodeau, David Seal and Su-Young Kim—are applying for funding to run a study on the effectiveness of a quit-smoking program among inmates upon release from prison. |
Former prisoners face tough odds to remain abstinent. A month after release, more than half of the study participants were living in someone else’s home or apartment and 27 percent were in temporary living placements. On average, each participant was living with two smoking adults. Just thirty-five percent had jobs. Still, 29 percent accepted a referral to the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line prior to release, and 18 percent accepted a referral post-release. The study was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. |
