Young People Can Be Hooked on Tobacco After Smoking Only ONE Cigarette

A recent article published in the prestigious scientific journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine showed that young people could be hooked on cigarettes within a day or two after they have the very first cigarette.

Researchers from University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, McGill University, Montreal, Montreal, Canada; St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London, London, England; and Fitchburg State College, Fitchburg, Massachusetts were able to follow 1246 sixth-grade students from six different Massachusetts Public schools for four years.

The Loss of autonomy over tobacco wasmeasured by a standardized scientific test (the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist). Tobacco dependence,as defined in International Classification of Diseases, 10thRevision (ICD-10), was also assessed. A total of 11 interviews were performed over the time span of the study.

It has been determined that all forms of tobacco smoking including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, bidis, hookahs, Chillums, Ritual Smudging, Kreteks, and other forms of tobacco use such as chewing tobacco and snuff are addictive.

Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, an addictive stimulant. The effect of nicotine in first time or irregular users is an increase in alertness and memory, and mild euphoria. In chronic users, nicotine simply relieves the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal: confusion, restlessness, anxiety, and insomnia. Withdrawal symptoms in chronic users begin to appear approximately 30 minutes after every dose.

Dr. Di Franza's study found that 10% of inhalers had lost their autonomy to tobacco use within 2 days of first inhalation of tobacco smoke and 25% did it so within 30 days of having their first cigarette.