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Cigarettes: More Addictive Than [*Insert Hard Drug Of Choice*]

Z

zenrat

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Apologies if this has already been covered here.

I keep hearing this. Currently there are Radio Ads running here making the claim.
I Can't find any proof.
Is it just a UL concocted to stop that first puff?
Have experiments been conducted (identical twins. one introduced to cigs, one to smack. Which kicks first)?
Having quit smoking after 25 years (8 1/2 months & counting) does it mean I can safely give crack a go as i'll be able to quit that as well?
 
Yes! Glad you came up with that as the same point had occurred to me (stopped smoking 5 years ago after 35 years) so I should be OK to try crack as it's less addictive? Rubbish!! This is the kind of drivel (presumably issued with the sanction of health professionals) that confuses the whole health/addiction scenario.
 
I have known quite a number of heroin addicts, who have said this. Some of them kicked the smack, but few of them kicked the ciggarettes. Sadly the larger portion of them are dead so I wont be able to do a follow up on this.
 
I've heard that from a few people who have been around herion addicts too.

While we're on smoking related u/l's, my cessation lady keeps telling me that tobacco is adulterated with local anaesthetic and nebulisers, which she says is why your chest gets worse for a while when you quit, and why having one apparently loosens it up again, which i am not overly convinved about.
 
Hard to say

Certainly alcohol is harder to kick than hard drugs (and probably more dangerous)

but ciggies? the cynic in me suspects they are easy to kick.

But theres a whole industry devoted to selling you products to help you.
 
I used to work with locked-up teenagers, some of whom were heroin addicts. They were prescribed methadone which was kept in a safe. Only the boss could give it to them.

They'd wake up in the early hours and pester me for the methadone. I'd explain again that I didn't have access to it and wasn't about to get the boss out at 3am and they could kick off if they wanted but all they'd get was a ride to the cells, blah blah blah...

I soon learned to offer to blag them a cigarette. This always placated them: a quick smoke and they'd be as quiet as lambs. Against the rules really, but better than letting them get disruptive.

To me, in that small group, it looked as if the nicotine addiction outweighed the heroin addiction.
 
Purely anecdotal and from personal experience... :oops:
I used heroin (and just about every other drug going) on and off for a few years. I wasn't really a junky (I was what 'proper' junkys refer to as a 'joy banger'). I certainly didn't find it difficult at all to stop, but I'm still smoking :roll:
 
With Nadia back in the Big Brother house, I'm reminded that when she was last in it about five years ago she got majorly cranky when she didn't have her cancer sticks, leading to one expert on TV to observe that, yes, nicotine was more addictive than heroin.

That was the first time I'd ever heard the claim, but I wonder how much addiction depends on personality and how far individual cases can really be generalised about.
 
gncxx said:
That was the first time I'd ever heard the claim, but I wonder how much addiction depends on personality and how far individual cases can really be generalised about.
Click to expand...

I do believe it is more to do with personality and personal susceptibility to addiction.
My own Father smoked back in the 50s, but gave up the cigs in one day because my Mother insisted that she would only marry him if he gave them up. He needed her more than he needed the cigs, so it was a practical choice. He told me that he just screwed up the last packet and put them in the bin - gave up just like that, and never touched them since.
I think most smokers who can't give up secretly don't really want to give up - they simply don't have sufficient motivation.
 
There are also those that claim the tobacco companies try to make quitting seem harder than it is, to help discourage people from trying.
 
I think I remember seeing a show about it on tv that said that it was more addictive than any illegal drug except cocaine.
 
I've tried several addictive drugs, but have only ever managed to get hooked on smoking.
 
Well, I'm giving up the ciggies on Weds, 1st of the month seems just as good as any other day so...I've stocked up on patches and the analator/tampon thingy.

I've got to say, having given it some thought, I think what will make the stopping seem harder than kicking 'phet will be the social aspect. It's not just a ciggy break at work, it's a chance for a bit of a vent or a giggle, and I'll miss that. There's the whole no smoking in pubs that only really tranfered my drinking to an alfresco experience, most of the time, the one or two of my mates that don't smoke will wind up outside having a laugh with everyone else.

Then there's the different kinds of ciggie, the one on the way to the bus stop, and the magic ciggie that makes the bus arrive. There's the wake up ciggie, go to sleep ciggie, after food ciggie and I vaguely remember an after sex ciggie, (although it's been so long since I had that one I'm not sure if it isn't an urban legend). There's the ciggie for between putting the pizza in the oven and the garlic bread - forget whatever is said on the packaging, my way works a charm. There's the advert ciggie in the middle of a good TV prog and the chick flick tear stopping ciggie. There's the two half time ciggies at the footie. If I only had to give up one ciggie, it would be a doddle, but which of the previous ciggies should I give up?

I think that's why giving up smoking is so hard, each of those ciggies fulfillls a different need, each with it's own addictive qualities.
 
Cultjunky said:
...and the magic ciggie that makes the bus arrive...
Click to expand...

I thought that was only me?

Shit CJ, reading the rest of your thread really gave me the craves...

Good luck giving up. The method that finally worked for me was Champix (might not be called that in the UK). Basically a drug that blocks some receptors (dopamine receptors?) in your brain and makes smoking an unfiltered woodbine as enjoyable as a Silk Cut Ultra Low.
I didn't sleep properly for 12 weeks while i was on it and had some very freaky weird dreams. It also supressed my sex drive.
A mate of mine tried it and it caused violent rages so he stopped taking it very quickly.

Anyway, my thinking about why cigs SEEM more addictive than hard drugs is availability.
you can change your behaviour to avoid your druggy mates and places your dealer hangs out but try avoiding places that sell cigarettes...
 
I've stocked up on patches and the analator/tampon thingy.
Click to expand...

:shock:

Had NO IDEA giving up was so... traumatic.
 
My dad had no trouble....

...But then, no one told him it was hard.
 
If all forms of tobacco were entirely outlawed everywhere tomorrow would millions of smokers begin roaming the world's streets, robbing and even killing to support thousand-dollar-a-day nicotine habits?
 
Listening to the hue and cry any time someone suggests banning smoking somewhere, I suspect they might.
 
Cultjunky said:
Well, I'm giving up the ciggies on Weds, 1st of the month seems just as good as any other day so....
Click to expand...

Cult, hows the giving up going?

A bit late to bring this into the conversation, but if anyone wants to give up smoking, I found the BEST way was read this book

Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Allen-Carrs-Eas ... 890&sr=1-1

And before anyone points this out, yes he did die of lung cancer later in life. But as he said, he would have died sooner if he hadn't given up. And this advice is from someone (me) who smoked for 35 years! And the book is cheaper than 20 ciggies.

Cult, you were talking about the ciggies that you had at certain times of the day, or after certain activities (yup I also don't remember the post coitum one), well this book deals with all that, doesn't nag, doesn't even ask you to stop as soon as you start reading it. IT WORKS!

And the best bit is that I can count how much money I've saved , how much healthier I am, I don't smell of stale ciggies, less chance of a heart attack or cancer, and best of all, I'm not a slave to the ciggies any more. I wouldn't walk in the rain, at an ungodly hour of the night trying to find an open shop for anyone else. But when I ran out of ciggies I would. I was a slave!

And after watching Yul Brynner, you have to think, you don't see people on their death beds telling you that you should take up smoking, do you?

Back on topic, in the 80's I heard from heroin users that giving that up was easier than ciggies, but of course, ciggies were easier to find.
 
Well, it's going better than expected, thanks for asking. :D

I'm on the stage 3 patches, the weakest ones, but most days I'm forgetting to put them on till a big crave kicks in. I'm using the inhilator more tho, but I'm now on the countdown to nicotine freedom. My last patch is for Monday.

The tough ones are the habitual ones, waiting for buses is now infuriating lol.

But...I do have a big test coming up this weekend, B'day celebrations and all, plus one of my mates is travelling for a while, so there's a send off to look forward to. I think the ciggies will be fine, it's the joints I might struggle with, as I have a couple of mates that are convinced they are non smokers, as they only have a couple of joints of an evening :confused: who will no doubt try to lure me back to their cult of denial.
 
OldTimeRadio said:
If all forms of tobacco were entirely outlawed everywhere tomorrow would millions of smokers begin roaming the world's streets, robbing and even killing to support thousand-dollar-a-day nicotine habits?
Click to expand...

Thats pretty much what happened when they banned smoking in prisons. People will rob or kill for them. People prostitute themselves for them in prison. The sterotype of the junkie robber is just that. I am sure most drug addicts work to support their habits. The homeless junkie robber is just more visible. Around here the criminals are more likely to buy booze with their stolen loot. Which is another thing, some people seem to have a genentic predisposition to being alchoholics, they really are hooked after their first drink. As most of society seems to be able to moderate their intake, you have to wonder why some people become addicts, and others do not. I have tried cocaine many many times. I dont find it addicitive for me, at all. Most of my friends are the same, take it or leave it. I do know one person who got toally hooked on it and ended up prostituting herself though. The one substance that i do not know anyone who can try it and not get hooked is tobacco. I found hard to quit myself, i would say its the only thing i have tried that i found totally addictive. If cigs were banned tommorow i am sure my dad would be calling and asking where could score some.
 
Upon reflection, it becomes obvious that pipe and cigarette tobacco grows so prolifically, even in the wild, that the "bootleg" product would likely never become more expensive than marijuana, and possibly a lot less, as opposed to heroin, meth-amphetamines and cocaine.
 
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