The plan to ban smoking at the seven hospitals -- including Northwest Georgia Regional Hospital in Rome -- is set to take effect Jan. 5 and is designed to make the patients and facilities healthier.
National statistics show that some 75 percent of people with mental illness or addictions smoke. Tom Wilson, spokesman for the state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, said people with serious mental illness tend to die 25 years younger than the general public in part because of their smoking.
But some mental health experts say it’s not a good idea to take away a coping mechanism from a person already in emotional distress.
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