Smoking provides many types of sensory stimulation. These include the taste and smell of the cigarette as well as the slightly irritating stimulation of the nose and throat that can be perceived as pleasurable if it is associated with nicotine. In addition, there is stimulation from a tactile sensation, both in the hands and in the mouth.

Smokers all have a strong bond to cigarettes. This bond, however, is more than affection for a simple habit. Cigarette smoking is an addiction. Yes, it’s true. Being addicted is one of the main reasons it is so difficult to quit. Recognizing that smoking is an addiction is the first step toward freedom from smoking. Smoking hasn’t always been seen as an addiction. For centuries, cigarette smoking was considered little more than a persistent but innocuous habit. Few people considered it a form of drug dependence. The idea that smoking could addict a person in a manner similar to morphine, cocaine, or alcohol was ridiculed.

Over the past twenty years, however, the more modem view of cigarettes has evolved. Currently, most experts consider cigarette smoking more of an addiction than a habit. In fact, national and international organizations, including the World Health Organization, the Royal College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, have stated that cigarette smoking is an addiction.

The 1988 Surgeon General’s Report entitled “The Health Consequences of Smoking” was devoted to the subject of smoking and nicotine addiction. This 600-page report drew on the expertise of over 500 scientists and cited more than 2,500 articles. What did it conclude? Primarily that cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addictive and that nicotine is the drug in tobacco that causes addiction.

Tagged under:american psychiatric association cigarette smoking college of physicians health and human services health consequences of smoking nicotine nicotine addiction Smoking surgeon general tactile sensation united states department united states department of health and human services world health organization

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