Are cigarettes really as addictive as some people make them out to be?

OOOOOOOOH YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I smoke when I drink and everyonce in a while with other smokers but I’ve NEVER had a craving. I don’t have a clue what people mean when they say that they “need” a ciragrette.

I have started and stopped smoking a few times. I always purposely start, and I have never had trouble quitting. Just like everything, it depends on the person.

They are very addictive. And I know this because I know a few of my loved ones that have died from lung cancer. Anything can be addictive to anyone and that’s sad…

I keep smoking even when they make me I’ll. They are addictive in ways no one can predict. I am going to die. No joke.

My sister started smoking when she was 13. She’s never been able to stop. She tries, over and over…she’s almost 39. She said it is the one and only thing the wishes she had never touched.

I’ve had three relatives die of smoking related diseases.

I’m like Randy, I’ll smoke socially or after smoking, but I’ve never gotten addicted. The past few week’s I had been smoking more than usual, so I stopped before I did get addicted.

I have friends who smoke who really can’t stop. They are addictive as hell.

it must depend on the person. like with everything else in the fucking world.

pete- did you just say you smoke socially or after smoking. I assume you mean after smoking mullet, turkey, or jerky.

Absolutely. Cigarette manufacturers have tweaked the chemical makeup of the tobacco they use to make them more addicting. They say it’s harder to quit than heroin.

Lucky, I’ve never found the appeal of smoking.

Come on, who is “they”? I believe “they” say that smoking is the number one killer in the US. The funny thing is, “they” also say car crashes, diabetes, and several others are the number one killer. Ever notice that?

I do agree that addiction depends on the person though.

Randy, I totally agree buddy…all of those nights with stupid camel lights! Nah, they are as addictive as someone makes them.

….P.S. I think it’s heart disease or all the kinds of cancer that’s the number one killer.

Yep. Addictive. Perhaps not so much the substance as it is the habit. When I quit after 14 years of smoking I had to relearn how to do everything without a cigarette: Driving in the car, waiting for a bus, having a coffee, etc. That was the hard part. It’s done now and I won’t go back. My grandfather died of lung cancer so I imagine that’s what I’ll die of too.

i believe it’s individual to the person, based on how fond they are of the habit, how much they convince themselves they need it, how accustomed to the act/feeling they let their body get. although there is no doubt that i enjoy the physical sensation a cigarette gives me, i know a large part of the appeal for me personally is that i also enjoy the act and just having something to do with my hand/mouth. however, i am not and have never been addicted. sometimes i wonder if this is just because i always stop smoking before i start craving one too much.

Just like cak’s sister, I started smoking at 13. I’m now 40 years old, and still can’t quit. The irony of the whole thing is, when you first start experimenting with cigarettes (or alcohol) you hate it…but you just keep forcing yourself to keep at it until you like it. If you’re not careful, the next thing you know, you’re an addict. I do think some people are more addictive personalities than others, though.

more addictive than crack

Just watch a smoker who hasn’t had a smoke for a while. Their hands will shake from nicotine withdrawal. In my book, that’s an actual, physical addiction. (The same effect can be had from working with nicotine powder for a few minutes, laying it out in a garden to keep away rabbits.)

Would you like to know more?

i have been smoking since i as14 and it is very addicting, i have never taken drugs but i can’t imagine they could be any worse.

I stop and start whenever I want… usually social or under stressful conditions only. Meh.

@loser: That sounded more like you were doing something most people follow up with a cigarette :x

Are you kidding? You can ask that after the massive amount of research information available?

As any smoker will tell you… they’re not addicted, they can quit any time they want and the only reason they are still smoking is they are looking forward to getting lung cancer and COPD etc. and hoping their medical insurance will cover the expenses.

I am a smoker.. soon to be an ex smoker I hope! Let me tell you, they ARE extreeeeemley addicting. I am beginning a program next week to try and quit once and for all. I have tried and failed several times. I admit it. I am a wimp when it comes to quitting. It has too much power over me. I’m going to take chantix. it helped alot the last time I tried, and I had the best results from it, but it was too exspensive. now that I have better insurance, I think I can do the full course and stay quit for good.

I buy a pack every once in a while, say every six months. When I’m finished, I’m finished. I smoked heavily for a couple of years after college, and one day just stopped. I believe my smoking at that time was due to the crummy relationship I was in; she smoked, and to be sociable and try to maintain a connection/intimacy I smoked with her.
From time to time I want a cigarette (generally after watching a movie like Casablanca, with Bogart lighting up every few seconds) but I’ve never experienced withdrawal symptoms or a overwhelming need to buy a carton. I just feel like having one every once in a while, just as from time to time I feel like having prime rib or a glass of Beaujolais.
I believe that any perceived addictive effect is dependent on personal psychology/physiology.

@Knotmyday, My brother can start and stop smoking whenever he wants in a similar way. I wish I could do that. I do enjoy smoking sometimes, I just wish i wasn’t so addidcted and it wasn’t so harmful.

I think you have to have a certain type of mind, and chemical process in order to be addicted to anything. Like I do not find my self addicted to anything really. I smoked since the 8th grade im in 12th now, but I can stop when ever I want to. I dont smoke now. Just stopped, because I am a runner and do not need it interfearing. I feel no urge or need to have one. I do not get crazy or irritable because of no nicotine. I just dont feel affected by it.

Sorry, Scamper. I hope your health keeps getting better (and you feeling better).

@Trance24 How long ago did you quit? I have heard of people just deciding to quit and doing so. I wish I could be one of those people.

@Knotmyday Thanks!

@scamp Trance quit around two months ago and has been doing great with it.

Thanks uberbatman! Congrats Trance.

Yep I have seen people who have COPD try to smoke after the fact. This jeopardizes their life.

the reason that some people can just socially smoke is because of the way they’re wired. i can’t think of all of the technical terms right now as it’s 2:30am and i’m tired and i have a pretty lame memory, but there are some people that have different set-ups that don’t enable them to get addicted from doing something sparingly. other people will do it once and are addicted.

So addictive that if I have just one, I can’t stop. So I try to stay away completely since I quit a few years ago. So blow your smoke in the other direction, please.

Would like to tell you yes. But I need to grab a smoke.

I smoked for 15 years. My mother smoked while she was pregnant so I accept that I was pre-wired to be a smoker. Quitting was neigh impossible until my home state came up with a law requiring the cigarette manufacturers use a chemically treated paper that retarded the fire. Left un-attended the cigarette would go out. The chemical made the cigarette taste like sh!t. The taste made me gag and want to vomit. I cannot so much as take a drag without becoming physically ill. Having said all that, there are times I would Love a cigarette. So how addictive is that?