How long does it take for someone to become addicted to cigarettes?

Question

I know people who are trying to quit smoking and are having a really hard time. I also know people who been smoking on and off for a long time and claim that they aren't addicted, they just like to smoke. They said that if they run out of cigarettes or don't have time then they don't smoke but that they don't feel the "need" to have a cigarette. I wonder how long it takes to be addicted and if it is different for different people.

Answer 1

As you have suspected, everyone reacts differently. My husband is one of the "addicted" types. He quit many years ago, but he could never just smoke one or two cigarettes. I smoked sometimes and not others, and could go for weeks without having any cigarettes...I was never addicted. It depends on your personal chemistry and personality.

Answer 2

For me, it was a rather long winding road. I started with herbal cigarettes, because I just wanted to look like I was smoking (a very stupid reason, I know), but I was still an avid promoter of non-smoking. Then I started dating someone who smoked, and that was all it took. A couple weeks with that and I was hooked, it didn't help that it was menthol too. Most people I've known got hooked faster on the menthol, than without. I smoked about 1/2 pack a day for 10 years, until last January 8 when I was getting through pneumonia. I decided then and there that if I was crazy enough to try and smoke when I couldn't even breath then I needed to quit, so I did. I have only smoked 1/2 a cigarette since then, and it was a no nicotine one. I quickly threw them away, because it tasted and felt so wonderful I realized it wasn't just the nicotine I was addicted to, but the fact that I enjoyed it so much. Now, I am approaching my first year anniversary of not smoking and I couldn't be happier. It was the best decision I ever made in my life. However, my advice to anyone trying to quit and needing help, look into supplemental assistance, such as patches, gum, friend support group, whatever. It makes it much easier to do with help.

Answer 3

You cant get hooked on anything after the first time, addiction just does not work that way.
But what should be considered is: If you start to smoke, it _will_ kill you. It is so poison that any one starting to smoke today must be a total moron!

There are very few people that would like to smoke a nicotine free cigarette, proofing that they are not just liking to smoke, but their are actually addicted. Its a part of an addicted persons mind to deny the addiction.

Nicotine is as addictive as Heroine.

Answer 4

Some people are more susceptible to being addicted to things. But for me I smoked on and off for about 5 years before I was addicted. It is when they start smoking all the time and not just here and there is when they are addicted.♥ But I also think a lot of it is psycological♥

Answer 5

It can take as few as four cigarettes. The tobacco companies have known this for decades. They sponsor auto racing all over the world, and up until recently, they would hire local girls to dress in tight blouses and very short skirts to gain the notice of young male racing fans. The girls would then give the guys a big smile and hand them "sample packs" of particular brands of cigarettes. There were four cigarettes in each pack, and the guys were to be given only one pack. But that's all it takes to hook people on smoking.

You smoke your first cigarette, you're likely to get sick as a dog. But you smoke a second one before you really feel too bad. You smoke the third one because you don't want to seem like a wimp to those around you, and you smoke the fourth one because you've already begun to become addicted - you miss the nicotine from the first three. And then you go out and buy your next pack of cigarettes because you're hooked. And then you buy another, and another, and you realize that maybe this isn't such a good idea: these things are expensive and you know they're not good for you. But you buy another pack, and another, and before you know it, ten years have gone by and you're short of breath, your doctor has told you point-blank that you're killing yourself, and your best bud, who started smoking the same day you did when you got that free sample down at the Winston Cup series at the race track in Daytona, tells you, with a stunned look on his face, that his doctor just told him he's dying of lung cancer. And what do you do? You go out and you buy another pack of cigarettes to "relax" you after hearing such bad news. And I lay out my instruments beside my autopsy table, knowing that soon I will be receiving a call from your survivors.

And I sigh at the confabulators like Nemo who pretend they've not had the slightest problem smoking and who prattle about the "ridiculous" idea that you can become addicted almost from the first puff. This clown dare not admit who paid him to say such a thing - or that, in truth, he is addicted too.

Answer 6

I'm 22 and have been smoking fairly regularly since I was 16. After i turned 18, it wasn't just a hobby, it was something like a drug. You start to need it, it becomes like a routine. Do it when your bored, after you eat, it's crazy.

I was supposed to quit this year, and didn't.

It also depends on the number you smoke. If your smoking a pack a week, your fine. A pack a day, then your more liable to get addicted.

Answer 7

It is probably different for everyone--But the moment a person decides to pick up a cigarette to smoke--well--they are starting along a certain path--cigarette smoking starts with casual smoking...if someone wants to guaranteee that they don't become addicted--well--don't start--otherwise--there is no guarantee...

Answer 8

Most addiction happens with two weeks of continous smoking. Atleast couple cigarettes a day.

Answer 9

Every person is different. For mental addiction, it could only take 1 cigarette because the person may like the way it makes them feel & want to feel that way again, & again, & again, & so they keep smoking again, & again, & again, until their body becomes physically addicted too.

Answer 10

It depends on the person and why the person starts smoking in the first place. Sometimes it's peer pressure, trying to stay awake or become more alert due to lack of sleep (especially if they work the night shift), their home or work environment, trying to calm ones nerves if they are under stress. Some women start smoking because they feel it increases their metabolism so they won't eat as much (decreases their appetite).