Q: What is nicotine?
A: When tobacco is burned, thousands of chemicals, many of which produce a significant health hazard, are released in the smoke. Nicotine is an addictive substance and poison that is found in all tobacco products. Nicotine has been used as an insecticide, and low doses act as a central nervous system stimulant. Regular use of nicotine-containing products will result in withdrawal symptoms resembling amphetamine and cocaine dependency.
Q: Why is tobacco so addictive?
A: Tobacco smoke contains approximately 4000 chemicals, and each puff of tobacco injects a small quantity of these drugs into your body. Some of these drugs produce physical damage leading to emphysema, lung cancer and heart disease. In addition to nicotine, there is a second addictive drug, acetaldehyde, which produces a sedative or quieting effect on the body, while nicotine produces an alert or energized state. The combination of these drugs allows the tobacco user to find energy when tired and relaxation when tense or stressed. A two-pack-a-day smoker inhales smoke approximately 450 times a day, so it doesn't take long for the regular smoker to rely on these relaxing or stimulating effects of tobacco smoke to get through the day.
Q: What happens to my body when I smoke?
A: Nicotine use increases blood pressure, pulse rate and causes the blood vessels in your body to contract. Larger doses of nicotine cause the user to feel nervous, anxious and shaky. Unfortunately, small amounts usually make the user feel relieved, in control and satisfied.
Q: Can a smoker really become addicted to nicotine?
A: Addiction is characterized by certain patterns of use. The first pattern is called tolerance, demonstrated when the individual needs to use larger quantities of the drug to obtain the same effect. Note that most smokers start with "a few" each day and end up smoking over a pack a day.
The next characteristic of addiction is withdrawal, a set of physical symptoms occurring when the individual stops using the substance. Anyone who has tried to quit smoking can tell you that your body reacts poorly to the absence of tobacco. Some common withdrawal symptoms include cravings for tobacco, anxiety, drowsiness, irritability, nausea, restlessness, headaches and difficulty concentrating. Reintroduction of the chemical will eliminate these symptoms rapidly.
The third characteristic of addiction is the presence of dependent behaviors in several categories. One common example of dependent behavior is the continued use of tobacco in spite of knowledge that such use is harmful to yourself or someone you care about. An example might be an individual who refuses to accept a needed job because the work will occur in a smoke-free environment, or a parent who continues to smoke around a child in spite of the damage it does to the child's health. Other dependent behaviors include preoccupation with tobacco, rituals about buying and smoking tobacco, hiding or sneaking cigarettes, choosing friends, recreational activities and lifestyles that revolve around the availability of tobacco.
Q: Why is it so hard to quit?
A: A two-pack-a-day person will inhale cigarette smoke over three million times in ten years, and each of these puffs represents the injection of an addictive drug. Every activity in life, both positive and negative, becomes powerfully associated with this chemical. Nicotine addicts quickly begin to associate the relaxing and stimulating effects of their drug with the normal activities of daily life. A cigarette becomes part of driving, walking, talking on the phone or relaxing. An individual who attempts unsuccessfully to quit has had a relapse. Furthermore, multiple relapses actually signal an individual's genuine attempt to finally stop using tobacco. Each failure teaches the person how difficult the process can be, so relapse is part of the long-term quitting process. The more the individual works at it, the more likely it is he or she will finally quit.
Q: How can I get help?
A: It isn't important how you quit. It is only important that you quit for good. Some people put their cigarettes down and say, "I quit," never to pick them up again. However, these individuals are by far the exceptions. A variety of programs are available to help an individual quit, and any program that focuses on the addictive nature of nicotine will be helpful for most people. Incorporation of a support group such as Smokers Anonymous is often a very important step for the individual who is quitting. Many books and pamphlets are available, offering details on how to quit. The important thing is to quit now.