No Smoking?

New York State has just decided to insist that everyone who seeks treatment for addiction in their residential centers quit smoking. I mean, drug addicts, gambling addicts, alcoholics...

Guys, have you really thought this through? Here are these people trying to do something that's horrendously difficult to begin with, and you decide that instead of treating one addiction at a time, you're just going to yank everything away from them. This is the worst idea I ever heard in my life. Have you ever, for instance, tried to give up say, smoking and ice cream at the same time? Doesn't work...not at all. Hey, people need rewards. And I should think that recovering addicts need rewards more than anybody.

I just can't wait until the powers that be decide that, okay, we're treating them for heroin addiction, we're taking away their cigarettes at the same time - hey, while we're at it, let's put them all on a macrobiotic diet for their health! Yay! What a great idea! This is absolutely the way to get more people into the treatment they need. Riiiight.

Sheesh.

Love, Wendy