The Black Sheep of Addiction: Integrating Tobacco Control Into Substance Use Disorder Programming

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This webinar explores how tobacco use disorder is often excluded from the core language, workflows and expectations of substance use disorder (SUD) services, even as recovery-oriented care has become the norm for other substances. Addiction is increasingly understood as a chronic, treatable condition with nonlinear trajectories, yet tobacco cessation is often framed as a secondary issue or a deferred concern rather than a core clinical priority. The result is misalignment across screening practices, clinical accountability and recovery narratives, with tobacco use remaining normalized in systems that are intended to support long-term wellbeing.

Featured Speakers

• • Alexandra Plante, Sr. Advisor, Substance Use Continuum, National Council for Mental Wellbeing
  • Catherine Bonniot, Executive Director, Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco
  • Christine Cheng, Partner Relations Director, Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco

Learning Objectives

By the end of the webinar, participants will be able to:

1. 1. Describe the intersection of tobacco use, SUDs and cancer-related health outcomes among individuals with mental health and substance use challenges.
   2. Identify evidence-based and promising practices for integrating tobacco cessation into SUD treatment settings.
   3. Examine policy, systems and environmental strategies that support tobacco-free and tobacco-responsive SUD programming.
   4. Highlight cross-sector partnerships between behavioral health, public health and community-based organizations that strengthen integrated tobacco control efforts.
   5. Apply practical strategies to align tobacco control initiatives with existing SUD program infrastructure and funding requirements.