Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Substance Use in Lifestyle Medicine in Viet Nam: Prevention, Treatment and Professional Boundaries

Tobacco, Alcohol and Other Substance Use in Lifestyle Medicine in Viet Nam: Prevention, Treatment and Professional Boundaries

Last reviewed: September 2026

Avoiding risky substances is commonly described as one of the core pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. At first glance, the message can sound simple: do not smoke, reduce harmful alcohol exposure and avoid harmful use of psychoactive substances. In clinical practice, however, these are not one problem and they should not be managed as though they were.

Tobacco dependence, occasional alcohol use, hazardous drinking, alcohol dependence, non-medical use of prescription medicines and use of illicit psychoactive substances differ substantially in health risk, dependence potential, withdrawal risk, legal status and available treatment. A person who smokes every day, someone who occasionally drinks alcohol, someone experiencing alcohol withdrawal and someone dependent on opioids or stimulants may all need support related to substance use, but they do not need the same intervention.

The 2025 Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies reflect this complexity. Their substance-use domain includes understanding the health effects of tobacco, alcohol and other commonly used substances, applying screening tools, developing patient-centered treatment plans, recognizing common substance use disorders, integrating behavioral treatment with pharmacotherapy where appropriate and knowing when specialist referral is indicated.

Lifestyle Medicine should therefore not reduce this pillar to a message about willpower or personal restraint. A more useful approach asks what substance is being used, what level of risk it creates, whether dependence or a substance use disorder may be present, what intervention is appropriate and whether the person needs a different level of professional care.

Substance use should be assessed, not moralized

Substance use is easily discussed in moral language. Someone may be described as lacking discipline, making poor choices or being insufficiently motivated. These descriptions rarely help clinicians decide what to do next and can make it harder for patients to disclose what is actually happening.

A useful assessment is more specific. What substance is being used? How much and how often? In what situations? Has the person tried to reduce or stop? Are there cravings, withdrawal symptoms or loss of control? Has use affected physical health, mental health, work, relationships, driving, finances or other areas of life? Are several substances being used together, and are there coexisting medical or psychological conditions?

The answers may lead to very different responses. Someone who repeatedly drinks more than intended during social or business occasions may benefit from brief intervention and practical planning. A person with severe alcohol dependence and a history of withdrawal seizures requires a very different clinical pathway. A tobacco user who wants to quit may benefit from structured behavioral support and, when appropriate, cessation medication. Someone using stimulants and developing psychotic symptoms may require urgent medical or psychiatric assessment.

The World Health Organization supports structured screening and brief intervention for substance-related problems. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test can help identify hazardous and harmful patterns of alcohol use, while the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test covers alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants, cocaine, opioids and other substances. The purpose is to identify risk and determine an appropriate response, not to attach a moral label to the person. World Health Organization guidance also emphasizes that brief intervention should be personalized, supportive and non-judgmental.

Tobacco use remains an important health issue in Viet Nam

Tobacco differs from many other lifestyle exposures because there is no clinical reason to recommend smoking. Tobacco smoking exposes the user to toxic substances and dependence, while second-hand smoke can harm people who do not smoke themselves.

The most recent nationally representative adult survey used in the World Health Organization's 2025 Viet Nam tobacco profile remains the 2021 STEPS survey. It found that 20.8% of people aged 15 years and older currently smoked tobacco, including 41.1% of men and 0.6% of women. The same survey found that 37.3% of respondents had been exposed to second-hand smoke at home during the previous 30 days.

The 2021 smoking estimate was slightly lower than the 22.5% reported in the 2015 survey, and smoking among men fell from 45.3% to 41.1%. However, the survey report states that these reductions were not statistically significant. By contrast, the reduction in second-hand smoke exposure at home from 59.9% to 37.3% was statistically significant.

The important clinical point is therefore not that tobacco use has already been solved, but that it remains common, particularly among men. Asking about tobacco use, documenting it, encouraging cessation and connecting patients to appropriate support should be normal parts of healthcare rather than something discussed only when a patient specifically asks for help.

This is especially relevant for people living with cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes and other conditions in which continuing tobacco exposure can affect prognosis, symptoms or treatment.

Tobacco cessation should be treated as active care, not simply advice

Telling someone that smoking is harmful may still have value, but most long-term smokers already know that tobacco is unhealthy. Nicotine dependence can make cessation difficult even when a person strongly wants to stop.

The World Health Organization's 2024 clinical guideline on tobacco cessation recommends brief advice from healthcare providers as a routine intervention for tobacco users. For people interested in quitting, it also supports more intensive individual, group or telephone-based behavioral interventions. Digital approaches such as text messaging, smartphone applications and internet programs may also be used as adjuncts or self-management tools.

Pharmacological treatment can also be useful. At the international level, the World Health Organization recommends nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline, bupropion and cytisine as effective tobacco-cessation treatments for adults. Combining pharmacotherapy with behavioral intervention generally improves cessation success compared with relying on either component alone.

This international recommendation should not be interpreted as meaning that every listed medication can automatically be prescribed, dispensed or used in Viet Nam in the same way. Drug registration, current availability, approved indications, contraindications, prescribing requirements and individual clinical circumstances remain relevant.

The practical lesson is that repeated unsuccessful quit attempts do not necessarily mean that a patient needs stronger warnings. They may indicate that the person needs more effective treatment, better follow-up or a different cessation strategy.

Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products require a specifically Vietnamese approach

Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are a good example of why international Lifestyle Medicine material cannot simply be transferred from one country to another without considering local law.

In Viet Nam, National Assembly Resolution No. 173/2024/QH15 established a prohibition from 2025 on the production, trading, importation, transportation and use of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products, together with other prohibited conduct specified in the Resolution. The Prime Minister subsequently issued Decision No. 1665/QĐ-TTg in August 2025 to implement the prohibition.

The enforcement framework became more specific in 2026. Government Decree No. 90/2026/NĐ-CP provides an administrative fine of VND 3 million to VND 5 million for using electronic cigarettes or heated tobacco products. It also provides higher penalties for allowing another person to use these products at premises under one's ownership or management, subject to the exceptions specified in the Decree.

The implication for Lifestyle Medicine in Viet Nam is straightforward. Electronic cigarettes should not be promoted as a locally available tobacco-cessation strategy. International debates about harm reduction do not override Vietnamese law.

At the same time, prohibition should not be confused with treatment. A person who is already dependent on nicotine through electronic cigarettes or heated tobacco products may still need respectful, evidence-based support to stop using nicotine. Legal status does not eliminate dependence.

Alcohol requires a different clinical conversation

Alcohol should not simply be treated as another form of tobacco. Alcohol is legally available in Viet Nam and patterns of use vary widely. At the same time, ethanol is a psychoactive and toxic substance that can cause dependence and contributes to disease, injury and social harm.

Alcohol use remains common in Viet Nam. In the 2021 national survey, 36.9% of adults aged 18 to 69 reported consuming alcohol during the previous 30 days. The figure was 64.2% among men and 9.8% among women. Heavy episodic drinking, defined in the survey as six or more standard drinks on at least one occasion during the previous 30 days, was reported by 14.7% of adults, including 28.5% of men and 1.0% of women. The overall prevalence of drinking during the previous 30 days was significantly lower than in the 2015 survey.

These figures also show why average consumption alone can be misleading. Frequency, amount and pattern all matter. Someone who drinks occasionally is not in the same clinical situation as someone who repeatedly consumes large quantities in a single evening, even if a weekly average appears similar.

Lifestyle Medicine should therefore move beyond vague questions such as “Do you drink socially?” A more useful conversation asks what is consumed, how much, how often, in what circumstances, and whether alcohol has created health, safety or functional problems.

Alcohol risk should be communicated without inventing a universal safe threshold

Clinical discussions about alcohol can become polarized between claims that modest drinking is harmless and claims that every person who drinks needs the same response. Neither is a good basis for individualized care.

Alcohol exposure carries health risk, and there is no clinical reason to encourage someone who does not drink alcohol to begin drinking for supposed health benefits. For a person who already drinks, reducing alcohol exposure generally reduces alcohol-related risk, but the appropriate goal depends on the person's pattern of use, health conditions, medications, pregnancy status, dependence risk and other safety considerations.

There are also circumstances in which no alcohol use is clearly appropriate. Driving is an important example in Viet Nam. The Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety prohibits operating a vehicle when alcohol is present in the driver's blood or breath.

More broadly, the Law on Prevention and Control of Alcohol-Related Harm No. 44/2019/QH14 has been in force since January 1, 2020 and establishes measures addressing prevention, restrictions, advertising and promotion, responsibilities of organizations and individuals, and other approaches to reducing alcohol-related harm.

The goal of a clinical discussion should therefore be to help the person understand risk and make an appropriate decision, not to defend one universal drinking threshold for every patient.

Risky alcohol use and alcohol dependence require different responses

Screening is useful because different patterns of alcohol use require different levels of intervention. The World Health Organization recommends screening and brief intervention for hazardous and harmful alcohol use in non-specialist healthcare settings. A brief intervention may include individualized feedback, discussion of risk, support for reducing or stopping alcohol use and an offer of follow-up.

The World Health Organization's SAFER initiative continues to place access to screening, brief intervention and treatment among its five core evidence-based strategies for reducing alcohol-related harm. The 2026 SAFER progress report reaffirmed this approach as part of the next phase of implementation under the Global Alcohol Action Plan 2022–2030.

Alcohol dependence requires more comprehensive assessment and treatment. Depending on the person, this may involve structured psychosocial treatment, pharmacotherapy, management of withdrawal, treatment of coexisting conditions and specialist services. A person identified through screening as possibly dependent should therefore not simply receive the same brief advice given to someone with a lower-risk pattern.

The presence of impaired control, withdrawal symptoms, repeated unsuccessful attempts to reduce drinking, continued use despite major harm or other features suggestive of dependence should change the clinical pathway.

Abrupt alcohol cessation can sometimes be unsafe

Lifestyle Medicine often encourages people to stop harmful exposures, but alcohol dependence presents an important safety exception. Telling a person with significant dependence to “just stop today” without considering withdrawal risk can sometimes be dangerous.

Alcohol withdrawal may include tremor, autonomic symptoms, agitation and sleep disturbance, and severe withdrawal can involve seizures or delirium. People with a history of severe withdrawal, withdrawal seizures or delirium, serious coexisting physical or psychiatric illness, or other indicators of high withdrawal risk may require medically supported withdrawal and, in some circumstances, inpatient treatment.

This is an important professional boundary. Abstinence may ultimately be the appropriate health goal, but reaching that goal safely can require clinical treatment rather than lifestyle counseling alone.

Other psychoactive substances require substance-specific pathways

The phrase “other substance use” covers very different exposures. Opioids, amphetamine-type stimulants, cocaine, cannabis, sedatives, inhalants and non-medical use of prescription medicines do not have identical health effects, dependence patterns, withdrawal syndromes or treatment options.

A general prevention message to avoid non-medical drug use may be appropriate for public education, but it is not an adequate treatment plan for someone who already has a substance use disorder.

International standards from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime emphasize that treatment of drug use disorders should be evidence-based, ethical, accessible and matched to individual needs. Depending on the substance and clinical situation, care may include psychosocial treatment, medication where effective pharmacological treatment exists, withdrawal management, treatment of coexisting physical and mental health conditions, social support and continuing care.

Even brief interventions are substance-specific. Updated World Health Organization guidance recommends screening and brief intervention for adults using cannabis or psychostimulants, while people with ongoing problems who do not respond to brief intervention should be considered for specialist assessment.

Withdrawal also differs substantially between substances. For example, abrupt cessation of long-term benzodiazepine use can cause clinically important withdrawal and may require gradual, medically supervised dose reduction. This is fundamentally different from the clinical management of cannabis or stimulant withdrawal.

Lifestyle Medicine therefore needs to recognize the limits of a single generic message about “avoiding drugs.”

Viet Nam introduced a new drug-control framework in 2026

The legal framework for drugs changed substantially in Viet Nam in 2026. Older material that refers only to the previous 2021 Law on Drug Prevention and Control should no longer be presented as the current primary framework.

The Law on Drug Prevention and Control No. 120/2025/QH15 was adopted on December 10, 2025 and took effect on July 1, 2026. It addresses prevention, control of activities involving controlled substances, management of unlawful drug use, identification and management of drug dependence, rehabilitation and the responsibilities of government agencies, organizations, families and communities.

Government Decree No. 163/2026/NĐ-CP, also effective from July 1, 2026, provides detailed implementation and guidance for selected provisions of the new law. Separately, Decree No. 166/2026/NĐ-CP regulates the documentation, sequence and procedures used for formal determination of drug dependence.

These developments matter for Lifestyle Medicine because formal determination of drug dependence, withdrawal management and treatment are not informal wellness activities. They operate within specific healthcare and legal frameworks.

Lifestyle Medicine can contribute to prevention, early identification of risk, behavioral support, health education and coordination of care. It does not create a parallel system of addiction treatment outside Vietnamese law.

Behavior change is essential, but it is not always sufficient treatment

Behavior-change skills remain highly relevant to tobacco, alcohol and other substance use. Motivational interviewing, collaborative goal setting, identification of triggers, planning for high-risk situations, social support, self-efficacy and follow-up can all help people make and sustain change.

Dependence, however, changes the clinical picture. A person may genuinely want to stop smoking and still experience powerful nicotine cravings. Someone with alcohol dependence may want to stop drinking but face medically significant withdrawal. A person with opioid or stimulant use disorder may have medical, psychological and social needs that cannot be managed through coaching alone.

The Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies reflect this directly. Their substance-use domain combines behavioral intervention, pharmacotherapy and referral rather than treating them as competing approaches. The broader behavior-change competencies also include therapeutic alliance, motivational interviewing, patient-centered action planning, building self-efficacy, follow-up and relapse prevention.

Lifestyle Medicine is therefore strongest when behavior-change support is integrated with appropriate medical and specialist care rather than used as a substitute for it.

Relapse should lead to reassessment, not judgment

Change in tobacco, alcohol or other substance use often does not occur in a straight line. Someone may stop for a period and later return to use. This does not automatically mean that treatment failed or that the person lacked commitment.

A return to substance use can provide clinically useful information. Craving may have been insufficiently treated. The original plan may have been unrealistic. Social or occupational triggers may still be present. Depression, anxiety, pain, insomnia or another untreated condition may be contributing. Treatment or follow-up may have ended too early.

The response can therefore include revising the behavioral plan, increasing treatment intensity, addressing coexisting problems or referring to a more specialized service. The aim is to understand what happened and improve the next step.

This approach also reduces stigma. If people expect judgment from healthcare professionals, they may underreport substance use or avoid seeking help. A supportive therapeutic relationship is therefore not simply a matter of politeness. It can improve the quality of information on which safe care depends.

Professional boundaries matter in Viet Nam

This pillar of Lifestyle Medicine requires particularly clear boundaries between education, screening, clinical assessment and treatment.

The current consolidated Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, Consolidated Document No. 26/VBHN-VPQH dated February 26, 2026, remains the central legal framework governing regulated clinical practice in Viet Nam. Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT regulates professional scope in further detail, and Circular No. 25/2026/TT-BYT, effective August 15, 2026, amended selected provisions of Circular No. 32 and other Ministry of Health regulations.

Not every discussion about substance use is medical treatment. General education about tobacco and alcohol, helping someone understand a standardized questionnaire, supporting implementation of an agreed behavior-change plan or directing someone toward an appropriate service can occur in a range of health-promotion and supportive settings.

Even screening tools need to be understood carefully. The World Health Organization notes that the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test was designed primarily for health settings but, with suitable instructions, can also be self-administered or used by non-health professionals. The questionnaire itself should therefore not automatically be equated with diagnosis or clinical treatment.

The boundary changes when the activity involves clinical assessment, diagnosis, interpretation of medical complications, prescribing or adjusting medicines, medically supervised withdrawal, treatment of a substance use disorder or other regulated medical activities. These must be undertaken within the qualifications, license, competence, facility requirements and legally authorized professional scope applicable in Viet Nam.

This distinction is particularly relevant for health coaches, educators, fitness professionals and people holding international Lifestyle Medicine or behavior-change certifications. Additional training can strengthen knowledge and supportive skills, but it does not by itself create a Vietnamese healthcare practice license or expand a person's statutory clinical authority.

Knowing when to refer is not a weakness in Lifestyle Medicine practice. It is part of practicing it safely.

A practical pathway for substance-related care

A practical pathway can begin by asking about tobacco, alcohol and other substance use as part of the health history. Where appropriate, a validated screening tool can help structure the conversation. The next step is to clarify the substance, amount, frequency, pattern and context of use, together with potential consequences and any indicators of dependence, withdrawal, acute intoxication, serious physical or mental health effects or immediate safety concerns.

For lower-risk situations, education and a brief behavioral intervention may be enough. Tobacco users interested in quitting can be offered structured cessation support and, where clinically appropriate, evidence-based medication through an authorized healthcare pathway. People with hazardous or harmful alcohol use may benefit from brief intervention and follow-up. More severe alcohol problems, suspected dependence or other substance use disorders may require formal clinical assessment and more specialized treatment.

Urgent presentations require a different pathway. Severe withdrawal, seizures, delirium, overdose, altered consciousness, severe agitation, psychosis, suicidal risk or other acute medical or psychiatric danger should not be managed as routine Lifestyle Medicine counseling or health coaching.

The overall process can be thought of as asking and screening where appropriate, understanding the level of risk, identifying dependence or urgent safety concerns, matching the intervention to the level of need, referring when necessary and following up over time. The greater the clinical risk and complexity, the more important formal clinical assessment and specialized care become.

Prevention also requires environments and policy

Substance use does not occur independently of the environment. Availability, affordability, marketing, social norms, family behavior, workplace culture, stress and commercial influences can all shape exposure and use.

This is relevant in Viet Nam for both tobacco and alcohol. The STEPS data show that tobacco smoking remains common, particularly among men, and that heavy episodic drinking remains substantial. Several alcohol indicators were lower in 2021 than in 2015, but the tobacco smoking reduction over the same period was not statistically significant.

Clinical Lifestyle Medicine can help an individual person change behavior, but it cannot replace tobacco-control policies, alcohol regulation, drink-driving enforcement, protection of children and adolescents, or an effective national system for prevention and treatment of drug use disorders.

The World Health Organization's 2026 SAFER report illustrates this wider perspective for alcohol. Effective alcohol policy combines healthcare access to screening, brief intervention and treatment with restrictions on availability, drink-driving countermeasures, controls on advertising and promotion, and pricing measures.

Individual care and population policy should therefore be seen as complementary rather than competing approaches.

Measure more than whether someone agreed to stop

A successful substance-use intervention should not be measured by whether the patient nodded during a consultation or said that they intended to change.

Depending on the situation, meaningful outcomes may include tobacco-use status, quit attempts, cigarettes or other tobacco products used, treatment engagement, alcohol consumption, heavy drinking episodes, substance-free days, cravings, withdrawal symptoms, medication adherence, attendance at treatment, quality of life or condition-specific clinical outcomes.

Safety outcomes may be equally important. Has alcohol-related driving stopped? Has there been an overdose, fall, injury or emergency visit? Has a person with suspected dependence successfully reached an appropriate treatment service?

Healthcare organizations can also measure the reliability of their own processes. Are tobacco and alcohol use assessed consistently when clinically appropriate? Are high-risk patterns recognized? Are brief interventions documented? Are referral pathways available? Does follow-up occur?

This moves Lifestyle Medicine beyond simply distributing health advice and toward a measurable clinical and preventive process.

What does this mean for Lifestyle Medicine in Viet Nam?

Viet Nam does not need a Lifestyle Medicine model that simply adds “do not smoke and avoid alcohol” to a checklist of healthy behaviors. The larger opportunity is to integrate structured identification of substance-related risk and evidence-based intervention into preventive care and chronic disease management.

Tobacco use can be addressed during care for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and cancer. Alcohol use can be explored when it may be contributing to hypertension, liver disease, sleep problems, mental health concerns, medication safety or injury risk. People with more complex substance use can be recognized earlier and connected to appropriate medical, psychiatric or addiction-related services.

The legal context also needs to be understood correctly. Conventional tobacco remains regulated under Viet Nam's tobacco-control framework, whose current consolidated form is Consolidated Document No. 11/VBHN-VPQH dated February 6, 2026. Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are prohibited. Alcohol remains legal but is subject to a specific harm-prevention framework and strict drink-driving rules. Drug prevention, drug use and drug dependence are now governed by the new legal framework that took effect on July 1, 2026.

These distinctions matter when international Lifestyle Medicine materials are adapted for Viet Nam. A recommendation that may be legally or professionally appropriate elsewhere cannot automatically be transferred into Vietnamese practice.

The goal is neither to turn every use of a substance into a diagnosis nor to treat dependence as a problem that motivation alone can solve. A stronger approach identifies risk early, supports change without stigma, treats dependence when treatment is needed, recognizes withdrawal and other safety concerns, and respects the professional boundaries of everyone involved in care.

“Avoid risky substances” is an important principle, but good care requires more

Avoiding risky substances remains an important Lifestyle Medicine principle, but a clinical pillar cannot end with a warning.

For tobacco, good care means systematically identifying use and helping people quit with evidence-based support and treatment. For alcohol, it means understanding quantity, pattern, context and risk rather than asking only whether someone drinks. For other psychoactive substances, it means recognizing that different substances require different preventive, clinical and legal responses.

It also means recognizing the point at which a lifestyle conversation is no longer enough and treatment of a substance use disorder is required.

The relevant question is therefore not simply whether the patient was told to stop. It is whether the level of risk was identified accurately, the intervention matched that risk, medical or specialist treatment was recognized when necessary, and the person received support that was safe, evidence-based and realistic for their circumstances.

That is the practical difference between giving advice about risky substances and addressing substance use responsibly within Lifestyle Medicine.

References

1. Rea BL, Cheema S, Lanza S, et al. Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies: 2025 Update. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2026;20(3):443–451. First published online October 28, 2025. doi:10.1177/15598276251379821.

2. World Health Organization. WHO Clinical Treatment Guideline for Tobacco Cessation in Adults. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024.

3. World Health Organization. Alcohol. Fact sheet. Updated June 28, 2024.

4. World Health Organization. Mental Health Gap Action Programme Guideline for Mental, Neurological and Substance Use Disorders. 3rd ed. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023.

5. World Health Organization. Screening and Brief Interventions for Substance Use Problems.

6. World Health Organization. Implementing What Works in Alcohol Policy: Progress Report on the SAFER Initiative. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026.

7. World Health Organization and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders. Revised edition. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.

8. World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific and Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. National Survey on the Risk Factors of Noncommunicable Diseases in Viet Nam, 2021. Manila: World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific; 2025.

9. Office of the National Assembly of Viet Nam. Consolidated Document No. 11/VBHN-VPQH, Law on Prevention and Control of Tobacco Harms. February 6, 2026.

10. National Assembly of Viet Nam. Resolution No. 173/2024/QH15, dated November 30, 2024.

11. Prime Minister of Viet Nam. Decision No. 1665/QĐ-TTg, dated August 5, 2025, implementing the prohibition on electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products.

12. Government of Viet Nam. Decree No. 90/2026/NĐ-CP, dated March 30, 2026, regulating administrative sanctions in the health sector.

13. National Assembly of Viet Nam. Law on Prevention and Control of Alcohol-Related Harm No. 44/2019/QH14, dated June 14, 2019, effective January 1, 2020.

14. National Assembly of Viet Nam. Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety No. 36/2024/QH15, dated June 27, 2024, effective January 1, 2025.

15. National Assembly of Viet Nam. Law on Drug Prevention and Control No. 120/2025/QH15, dated December 10, 2025, effective July 1, 2026.

16. Government of Viet Nam. Decree No. 163/2026/NĐ-CP, dated May 15, 2026, detailing and guiding implementation of selected provisions of the Law on Drug Prevention and Control, effective July 1, 2026.

17. Government of Viet Nam. Decree No. 166/2026/NĐ-CP, dated May 15, 2026, regulating documentation and procedures for determining drug dependence, effective July 1, 2026.

18. Office of the National Assembly of Viet Nam. Consolidated Document No. 26/VBHN-VPQH, Law on Medical Examination and Treatment. February 26, 2026.

19. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT, detailing selected provisions of the Law on Medical Examination and Treatment, as amended.

20. Ministry of Health of Viet Nam. Circular No. 25/2026/TT-BYT, dated June 30, 2026, amending selected provisions of Circular No. 32/2023/TT-BYT and other Ministry of Health regulations, effective August 15, 2026.

This article is intended for professional education and general information. It does not provide individualized medical advice, diagnosis, detoxification guidance or treatment for tobacco, alcohol or other substance use disorders. People with significant withdrawal symptoms, overdose, altered consciousness, seizures, delirium, severe agitation, psychosis, suicidal risk or other urgent medical or psychiatric concerns require appropriate clinical assessment and, when necessary, emergency care. Standardized screening questionnaires may be used in different health and non-health settings when appropriate, but clinical assessment, diagnosis, prescribing, medication management, medically supervised withdrawal and other regulated clinical activities must remain within the practitioner's training, competence, license and legally authorized professional scope in Viet Nam. Lifestyle Medicine, health coaching or other international education or certification does not by itself authorize regulated medical practice in Viet Nam.

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