Nicotine Addiction as a Disability

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 19, 2003

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Dec 19, 2003

Nicotene as a disability, just when i thought i'd heard it all!!

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Dec 19, 2003

Geez.....everybody's a victim nowadays. What I want to know is, who was holding the gun to the guy's head and forcing him to smoke in front of customers?? :rolleyes:

LydiaGreen · Dec 19, 2003

Originally posted by OCCHCanada
An employee was terminated due to insubordination (he was smoking in front of customers).

He now claims he is being discriminated against due to a disability - nicotine addiction.

Is there any literature that supports that nicotine addiction falls into the same medical disability as alcohol or drug addictions?

Don't have it on hand right in front of me, but I know that I have heard before that nicotine is more addictive than heroin... not when starting but when quitting. Have heard that from more than one source. Being a disability... um, no. I am a smoker and I can go for long periods of time (12 hours if I have to) if we are having a really, really busy day (only smoke on my breaks and only in the designated outdoor smoking area). Has his guy ever heard of gum? Nicotine gum? Nicotine patch? Toothpicks? All of these help to control cravings. I do the best with toothpicks but that doesn't look all that attractive, so I just hold my pen the same way I would a cigarette and suck on a candy. I can still function but it prevents me from being a basket case.

Obesity is now a disability in Canada, why not nicotine addiction? (I am being sarcastic here).

fergus51 · Dec 19, 2003

Ummm....bull. I think it is insulting to people with real disabilities to categorize smoking as a disability.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Dec 19, 2003

Originally posted by fergus51
Ummm....bull. I think it is insulting to people with real disabilities to categorize smoking as a disability.

I agree!!!

tmiller027 · Dec 19, 2003

Sounds like his only disability is having the responsibility of a 6th grader.

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Dec 19, 2003

Why should the public pay for his problem?

kwagner_51 · Dec 20, 2003

Originally posted by mjlrn97
Geez.....everybody's a victim nowadays. What I want to know is, who was holding the gun to the guy's head and forcing him to smoke in front of customers??

No one is holding a gun to an alcholic's head either, but it is considered an addiction. No one holds a gun to an obese person's head either, but it is becoming an addiction too.

I am a smoker, but I do want to quit. I haven't tried really hard yet. I am planning on quitting after Christmas and before school starts on January 13, 2004.

Like alot of you, I am SO TIRED of people making excuses for bad behaviors. By the same token I am TIRED of absolute STRANGERS telling me to stop smoking!! EXCUSE me MYOB!!!

I do not think that smoking is an addiction. I do think the we should all take INDIVIDUAL responsibility for our own healthcare and stop LISTENING to the news media, telling us that we are paying for other people's bad choices. My husband pays for our health insurance. And I am beginning to wonder WHY!!!

WHY do we pay a "middleman" to see the PCP/NP? Health insurance used to be a perk at a factory. Now to hear the media talking, you'd think that anyone who doesn't have insurance, isn't seeing the DR> I say BS!! There have been too many examples of people who the insurance co. REFUSED to cover, because it was too expensive, too experimental, too____________ [fill in the blank]. Yet when the story makes it on National news EVERYONE sned them $$ to cover the expenses.

Sorry got side tracked. I'll step off my soapbox for now. :chair:

sharann, BSN, RN · Dec 20, 2003

Smoking is NOT a disability, it is a horrible ADDICTION which CAN be broken with a lot of help from within oneself, and from outside sources as well if needed. Smoking however, CAUSES DISABILITY all the time as we all know!

nursemaa · Dec 20, 2003

I believe the real question is: "is nicotine addiction any different than alcohol addiction or other drug addiction, and should an addiction be considered a disability?". If you consider one addiction to be a disability, it seems you would have to include all addictions.