Smoking characteristics of community corrections clients

Abstract

Introduction: While smoking rates are 3-4 times higher among criminal justice populations than in the general population, no studies have previously examined smoking characteristics in a community corrections population.

Methods: The current study involved descriptive analyses of self-reported survey data from 217 criminal justice supervisees reporting for urine drug screens during a 5-day period at a community corrections facility in the southeastern United States.

Results: Most participants were current smokers (72.3%), males (65.9%), and Black (50.2%) who reported smoking three fourths of a pack of cigarettes per day and had been smoking for about 15 years. More than half of smokers reported that they would be interested in receiving cessation assistance if free help were available and of these, 60% were interested in pharmacotherapy. White smokers used more cigarettes per day, were more likely to have already tried medication to help them quit smoking, and were also more interested in pharmacotherapies and less interested in behavioral therapies compared with Black smokers. Female smokers did not differ from male smokers on key smoking characteristics, but male smokers were more likely to have tried or regularly used other tobacco products, such as cigars. Female smokers were significantly more likely to report interest in using a pharmacotherapy agent for future cessation, while male smokers reported more interest in nonpharmacotherapy approaches to quit smoking.

Discussion: Results from this study highlight important differences among smoking groups and may indicate the need to test tailored smoking interventions.