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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata. Got a minute?

It's not news that tobacco's bad for your health—nearly half a million Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses every year. And among people who abuse drugs and alcohol, more than three-quarters use tobacco, which means tobacco is still the leading killer¹ of the drug-dependent, not hard drugs.

So instituting a tobacco ban at rehab centers would seem like a no-brainer. But it's not so clear cut, according to a study of an Ohio center for addiction² treatment. The center imposed a smoking ban. And in the following months, the number of users who completed rehab dropped nearly in half. In addition, both smokers³ and non-smokers stuck with the program for fewer days than they had before the ban. That study appears in the Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions⁴.

The researchers aren't discouraging treatment centers from trying tobacco bans. Because previous studies do indicate that quitting tobacco and hard drugs at the same time ups the odds⁵ patients will stay clean in the long run. But as this study points out, even a well-meaning ban on tobacco may sometimes push away the very people who treatment centers are trying to help.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.