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A single cigarette can get you hooked, study finds
CanWest News Service via Pennsylvania Department of Health ^ | September 15, 2003 | Anne Marie Owens

Posted on 11/05/2003 8:54:45 PM PST by Between the Lines

Research refutes belief it takes time to become addicted.

TORONTO -- The first puff on a cigarette could be enough to hook a young teenager into addiction, according to new Canadian research.

The extraordinary findings upend the prevailing view about nicotine addiction being a slowly acquired process that occurs only after several years of heavy smoking, suggesting instead that some young people show the first signs of addiction almost immediately after taking a drag on a cigarette.

The study, by a team that includes researchers from McGill University and the University of Toronto, could have dramatic implications for the methods currently used to curtail smoking among young people.

"We know that prevention campaigns are not working. This should make us wonder whether prevention is actually relevant at all," says Jennifer O'Loughlin, a McGill University epidemiologist and lead author of the study, which is published today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

She said these new findings could shift anti-smoking campaigns for young people away from the traditional focus on resisting the pressure to smoke and force advocates to consider the kinds of cessation measures now only being used for adults, such as putting young people on the nicotine patch.

"This is big news because right now, most prevention is based on peer-resistance learning," says Dr. O'Loughlin.

Her team's study, which was culled from ongoing surveys of more than 1,200 teenagers over the span of about six years, demonstrates the physical addiction is a much stronger force than peer pressure, even among those who smoked only rarely.

"What we're talking about is the metabolism of nicotine in kids, the neurophysiological symptoms that lead to addiction," Dr. O'Loughlin says.

The study found that some young people showed signs of nicotine dependence long before they demonstrated any heavy daily tobacco use.

The data was drawn from questionnaires taken several times a year by Montreal- area students.

The students have been tracked by researchers from the time they were in Grade 7, or about 12 years old, at an age where many of them had not even smoked at all.

The youngsters were queried about their tobacco use and whether they smoked at all, how frequently, and what sorts of feelings and cravings it elicited in them. The questions attempt to draw out whether the smokers are experiencing any symptoms of nicotine dependence, while using language that acknowledges the different smoking behaviour of teenagers.

"Kids don't smoke the same way as adults do, nor do they experience nicotine dependence in the same way," says Dr. O'Loughlin, referring to adult measures that gauge whether someone lights up first thing in the morning, for example, when most teenagers sneak around to smoke. This study asks teens to describe how difficult it is for them to be in a movie theatre and not able to smoke, for example.

The young smokers were categorized as triers, who had only smoked once or twice in their lifetime; sporadic smokers, who smoked more than three times in their lifetime, but not monthly, weekly or daily; those who smoked at least once a month; weekly smokers, who smoked more than once a week but not daily; and those who smoked daily.

The study found that despite low cigarette exposure, 16 per cent of those who had smoked in the past three months were tobacco dependent, according to the responses given to the questionnaires.

Although none of the triers demonstrated signs of dependence, three per cent of the sporadic smokers and 4.6 per cent of the monthly smokers indicated dependence symptoms. About two-thirds of the daily smokers, and almost 20 per cent of weekly smokers, were dependent.

By using blood samples which were also taken from those who participated in the survey, researchers may be able to further explore any "genetic predisposition" to nicotine addiction, says Dr. O'Loughlin.

"Levels of cigarette exposures associated with increased frequency of smoking are likely to vary ... possibly reflecting differing genetic, biological, and psychosocial predispositions and sensitivities to nicotine," the study says.

"Nicotine dependence symptoms appear in many young tobacco users between the first exposure to nicotine and the onset of daily smoking ... countering current conceptualizations that the development of nicotine dependent smoking necessitates years of heavy regular smoking."

The researchers say the findings send a clear message that anti-smoking programs aimed at children and adolescents must take into account these kinds of early nicotine dependent symptoms.

The research was funded by the National Cancer Institute of Canada.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: pufflist
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To: Clock King

LOL.

Umm, is that movie for real?
41 posted on 11/06/2003 6:07:14 PM PST by Killborn (Half Thai, Half American, 95% Conservative, 100% Insane)
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To: Jorge
gee whiz how did you afford it all
42 posted on 11/06/2003 6:10:39 PM PST by mel
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To: Between the Lines
The first puff on a cigarette could be enough to hook a young teenager into addiction,

I have to agree with that statement as long as it also includes alcohol. -I had my first beer with my first cigarette and for at least a couple years after, everytime I smoked a cigarette while consuming the beer I felt like Shiite the next day!

And if anyone here has the guts to say that beer is non-addictive, I am here to tell you that I went from a beer and cigarette recreational user to a Tanqueray and cigarette addict in a mere 32 years.........

Alcohol and Cigarettes are evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (/sarcasm)

Thank God I never tried twinkies.......

43 posted on 11/06/2003 6:29:23 PM PST by Hot Tabasco ( 30 years of dealing with stupid people and I still don't have the right to just shoot them...)
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To: Jorge
Yes, I quit several times and found that a pack of cigarettes was more than enough to become re-addicted.

Re-starting and initial starting are two different things. I've experienced the same on quitting/restarting, but I can't say that the inital pack of cigarettes got me hooked. It was a cumulative thing over a period of months that gradually built into a habit/addiction/whatever.

After trying several times to quit, and some temporary help from Welbutrin I've been off cigarettes for almost 5 years now.

Excellent - 5 years is great. I'm 21 months smoke-free. Don't ever feel bad about using wellbutrin - cigarettes have a psychological effect that non-smokers don't understand. I quit cold turkey and its a wonder that I didn't kill anybody.

I quit several drugs including speed, heroin, cocaine etc. and found cigarettes the most difficult.

I haven't been in that position, but I will agree as to the difficulty of quitting and the ease with which one can start. I've had quits of 4 years, 1 year (twice), and several months under my belt. This time, I ain't starting again. It just won't happen.

44 posted on 11/06/2003 6:37:09 PM PST by meyer
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To: Entropy Squared
Nicotine is certainly addictive, but it is also a great drug. It improves concentration and it relieves stress. If it wasn't a great drug, not many people would use it.

I've heard it referred to as the "poor man's prozac". Well, maybe not so poor any more, as the price has risen considerably.

45 posted on 11/06/2003 6:38:48 PM PST by meyer
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To: Clock King
Exellant film, I love it, got the CD and the tape, along with the Jack Webbs, Sgt Friday stuff.

The one, Sgt Friday, I love is where Webb did a Clinton, how to smoke a J with out inhaling, as if Friday could ever do vice.

46 posted on 11/06/2003 6:42:51 PM PST by Little Bill ("Roosevelt was the first Dictator of the United States"...My Grandfather)
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To: swarthyguy
And asthma, while irritated by smoke, certainly has shown a peculiar rise while smoking has gone down since, say the 70's.

Asthma incidence has risen as houses have been built more energy efficient and more air-tight. I get asthma as an allergic reaction to cats, but it is particularly bad at my sister's house where they keep the house sealed up in the winter with no forced-air filtration (they heat primarily with a wood-burner). I have some serious problems there.

On the other hand, I had a cat myself and with good filtration, I only had minimal breathing problems around him. My smoking actually helped (temporarily anyway) my breathing at the time. Still, I'm glad to have quit.

47 posted on 11/06/2003 6:45:10 PM PST by meyer
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To: Between the Lines
I smoked 2 cigs in my life both because the chick I was trying to score were smoking. Both times I asked is that all you do inhale (with some gagging) them blow it out. I just couldnt figgure out the pleasure.
48 posted on 11/06/2003 6:50:05 PM PST by TheRedSoxWinThePennant (I am still not over it.)
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To: Between the Lines
There has to be something wrong with the basic notion that nicotine itself is addictive in the same sense that some other substances are since nicotine is available over the counter now in gum and patches and we don't have ERs full of junkies all over the country.

There is a pleasurable sensation in the long, slow draw of a cigarette, the swirling of the smoke about your face and the uptake of the upper lung area.

Smoking is a solitary vice when practiced best.

49 posted on 11/06/2003 7:02:18 PM PST by Old Professer
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To: mel
gee whiz how did you afford it all

I wasn't addicted to all of them at the same time...but tended to replace one addiction with another.

My crack/cocaine addiction was by far the most expensive.
I was making a decent salary but still was borrowing money to pay rent,had my credit ruined, nearly had my car repossessed, and was going to the homeless shelters for food.
My employers even knew I was addicted to coke, and put up with my behavior problems because I happened to have difficult to replace experience and job skills.

I could tell you some stories that you wouldn't believe.
And I can only thank God I am still alive at 50. Most of my freinds didn't make it.

50 posted on 11/06/2003 8:39:03 PM PST by Jorge
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To: meyer
I haven't been in that position, but I will agree as to the difficulty of quitting and the ease with which one can start. I've had quits of 4 years, 1 year (twice), and several months under my belt. This time, I ain't starting again. It just won't happen.

I've found the mere PRICE of cigarettes these days has been the best incentive not to start again.

I am so angry that the greedy politicians have tacked such huge taxes on them..that I am determined they won't get a single red cent from me.

Besides, I look at what I could buy for the approx $180/month I would spend on cigarettes and I reward myself with the benefits. It works for me.

51 posted on 11/06/2003 8:51:44 PM PST by Jorge
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To: meyer
I've heard it referred to as the "poor man's prozac". Well, maybe not so poor any more, as the price has risen considerably.

The majority of the cost of smokes is taxes, the government is addicted to tobacco tax. Now that the general public has given the government the power to confiscate the property of citizens because they are engaging in a lawful activity, the floodgates have been opened. Every group the government decides to attack after smokers, groups that applauded the attacks on smokers, will say, "But...but...they weren't supposed to do this to meeeeee!"

You reap what you sow.

52 posted on 11/06/2003 8:53:44 PM PST by Entropy Squared
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To: Jorge
Dittos. I was going to college, studying for exams (at that time I was a runner, doing at least 4 miles a day), and was having trouble staying awake. A "friend" of mine told me cigs would help me remain conscious. I bummed about 6 or 7 off of him, then got a pack and didn't quit til I was 49, although I tried about 30 times.

I understand the freedom, don't want non-smoking laws, but man, that was the toughest monkey I ever got off my back.

53 posted on 11/06/2003 8:58:21 PM PST by Richard Kimball
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