Researchers at the University of Georgia revealed that substance abuse treatments that target issues such as serious drug and alcohol addiction are not frequently being used to also wean adolescents from tobacco.

According to Jessica Muilenburg, lead author of the study, tobacco addiction in adolescents is oftentimes overlooked because it doesn't carry the stigma serious drug and alcohol addiction does.  Muilenberg said this needs to change.

"[Tobacco] changes the chemistry of your brain and makes you crave whatever your drug of choice is, which is why kicking the tobacco habit with the rest of your addictions is important," she said. "It's a drug, but it's not treated in the same capacity and with the same urgency as other drugs. We are saying to treat it with the same urgency, because relapse is less likely if you treat the nicotine as well."

Tobacco use is a public health concern that frequently starts during early adolescence and continues across a person's lifespan. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 2.6 million adolescents smoke cigarettes, and 3.3 million use some sort of tobacco product.

For the study, Muilenburg and her colleagues tracked down substance abuse centers throughout the United States and analyzed treatment practices in those considered adolescent-only clinics. To gather the necessary information, they completed surveys with each of the counselors in those 22 centers.

After analyzing several factors, researchers found that a small number of counselors in these adolescent-only substance abuse treatment centers actually implemented some sort of tobacco cessation treatment when seeing patients.

Additionally, they found that a majority of these counselors do have the knowledge to implement tobacco cessation treatments and the ability to prescribe medications--such as the patch or nicotine chewing gum--to help adolescents quit. However, counselors don't typically do so for the adolescents they are seeing.

"Their primary goal is getting them off of alcohol and other drugs, but if we can get them off of all drugs, including tobacco, it will be more beneficial for them in the future," Muilenburg said.

The implementation of these programs needs to be more widely used for adolescents with substance abuse issues, she explained.

The findings are detailed in the Journal of Adolescent Health.