Comparison
There are several commercial and nonprofit programs supporting smoking cessation programs in the United States. Low-cost options, in addition to Nicotine Anonymous, are sponsored by groups such as The American Cancer Society, The American Lung Association, The American Heart Association and The Seventh-day Adventist Church. Commercial programs include cognitive-behavioral group therapy, nicotine replacement therapies and bupropion. Combinations of these approaches, marketed in commercial packages such as Smokeless and Smoke Stoppers, are licensed to treatment providers and conducted on an inpatient or outpatient basis. These are in addition to local programs ran by regional treatment facilities.
NicA is unique among the array of treatment options as its meetings are held weekly, nicotine users and ex-nicotine users can leave and enter the process as they please. Most other treatment programs are run episodically, making it difficult for members to pick it up midway through or begin when a program is not being offered.
In 1996, NicA ranked twelfth in size among the thirteen twelve-step organizations studied by Klaus Makela. Sponsorship and lifetime attendance is not emphasized as much as in as in other twelve-step programs. The average meeting size is about seven people.
Although both drinking and smoking are recognized by many respondents as imposing burdens on the family, there are no auxiliary support groups for friends and family of smokers related to NicA; as Al-Anon meetings were created for friends and family members of alcoholics. Nicotine Anonymous World Services does, however, offer a pamphlet, Are You Concerned About Someone Who Smokes or Chews Tobacco? with information for friends and family of nicotine users.
Read more about this topic: Nicotine Anonymous
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