Community based health promotion in Israel.

Smoking—How it Starts

Most adults who started smoking in their teens never expected to become addicted. That's why people say it's just so much easier to not start smoking at all.

 

Is smoking an addiction?

If someone smokes a cigarette or two, does that mean they are addicted? No! But they are at risk smoking more. The difference between substance abuse and addiction is very slight. Addiction begins as abuse, or using a substance like marijuana, cocaine, alcohol or nicotine. You can abuse a drug (or alcohol) without having an addiction. For example, just because Sara smoked weed a few times doesn't mean that she has an addiction, but it does mean that she's abusing a drug - and that could lead to an addiction.

 

What does addiction mean?

Addiction means a person has no control over whether he or she uses a drug or drinks. A person who's addicted to cocaine has grown so used to the drug that he or she has to have it. Addiction can be physical, psychological, or both.

Physical addiction occurs when a person's body actually becomes dependent on a particular substance (even smoking is physically addictive).

Psychological addiction happens when the cravings for a drug are psychological or emotional. People who are psychologically addicted feel overcome by the desire to have a drug. They may even lie or steal to get it.

A person crosses the line between abuse and addiction when he or she is no longer trying the drug to have fun or get high, but because he or she has come to depend on it. Their whole life centers on the need for the drug. An addicted person - whether it's a physical or psychological addiction or both - no longer has a choice in taking a substance.

Signs of Addiction
The most obvious sign of an addiction is the need to have a particular drug or substance. However, there are many other signs that can suggest a possible addiction, such as changes in mood or weight loss or gain. (These are also signs of other conditions, too though, like depression or eating disorders.)

 

Experts have outlined 5 stages smokers go through on their way to becoming regular smokers.

 

STAGE 1: No experimentation with smoking, no intention to smoke

 

STAGE 2: No experimentation with smoking, but intention to smoke in the future; or, experimented, but no intention to smoke in the future

 

STAGE 3: Experimented and intention to smoke in the future; or, smoked, not recently, and no intention to smoke in the future

 

STAGE 4: Smoked, not recently, but intention to smoke in the future; or smoked recently, but less than 100 cigarettes

 

STAGE 5: Smoked more 100 cigarettes

 

Once You Start, It's Hard to Stop
Smoking's a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, which is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal.

Reasons people start smoking

Peer Pressure – Kids have friends who smoke and also encourage or even “dare” their friends to try.

Parents or siblings smoke – Children of parent smokers are much more likely to start.

Media – Although cigarette ads are much harder to come by today, they still exist. Sporting and other event tobacco sponsorships are easily found. (Israel’s laws and the enforcement of the existing laws are unfortunately still quite lax when it comes to anti-smoking policy)

Self image - Some teens who smoke say they start because they think it helps them look older.

To Relax - Others smoke because they think it helps them relax (it doesn't - the heart actually beats faster while a person's smoking).

To Rebel - Some light up as a way to feel rebellious or to set themselves apart. “To teach my parents a lesson…”

Boredom - Some start because it just gives them something to do.

Weight Loss - Some people, especially girls, start smoking because they think it may help keep their weight down.

             Next month we will discuss what individuals and members of any community can do to lower the risks of people, especially our youth, picking up the smoking habit.

Other Articles in This Issue

Parents of Teen Drivers: A few pointers for parents of young drivers.

Dealing With Teens: Your child is now a teen, a few survival tips....

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Almost everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, emphysema, and heart disease; that it can shorten your life by 14 years or more; and that the habit can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year. So how come people are still lighting up? The answer, in a word, is addiction.

 

Very few smokers started smoking as an adult. The initiation of daily smoking most often begins in grades six through nine. Smokers who begin at young ages also find it hardest to quit.

Why do people start smoking?
There are no physical reasons to start smoking - the body doesn't need tobacco the way it needs food, water, sleep, and exercise. In fact, many of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, are actually poisons that can kill in high enough doses. The body's smart and it goes on the defense when it's being poisoned. For this reason, many people find it takes several tries to get started smoking: First-time smokers often feel pain or burning in the throat and lungs, and some people feel sick or even throw up the first few times they try tobacco.