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SMOKING
It'sMore
ThanJust aHabit!
by
Donald D. Schroeder
I
T's TAKEN
a long time for an agency of the United
States government to officially state what's really
been known about smoking.
For years smoking was thought of as just a habit,
though a particularly bad
habit, for many.
The latest U.S. government
view, shared by many healt h
offic ials and supported by
extensive evidence, is clear.
Cigarette smoking is "the
most widespread example of
drug dependence in the
United States."
A pamphlet released by the
if he smokes at all, almost inevitably
become dependent on the habit"
(The Royal College of Physicians,
Smoking or Health ,
Third Report ,
1977, page 98).
The substances in cigarettes, like
many other drugs, affect the chem–
istry of the brain and nervous sys–
tem, and "create dependence and
lead to compulsive use," the Amer–
ican pamphlet says.
Office on Smoking and Health
Addlctive
entitled, "Why People Smoke
Cigarettes" calls cigarette smok–
ing America's worst drug addic–
tion problem.
Tt
involves addic–
tion to the drug nicotine
in
tobac–
co and possibly other tobacco
substances.
Governments in other nations
have also been warning their citi–
zens about the addictive nature of
smokjng in recent years.
An Australian government report
of 1977 called
Drug Problems in
Australia-An lntoxicated Society,
says,
" lt
is important to recognize
that smoking is a form of drug
dependence, but one with especially
insidious characteristics."
Also, an author itative British
report stated: "Tobacco smoking is a
form of drug dependence different
from but no less strong than that of
other addictive drugs.... The mos t
stable and well-adjusted person will,
Many of the 56 million Ameri–
cans-and mu1tiple scores of mil–
lions more in other nations- are
hooked on cigarettes in the same
way heroin addicts are hoqked on
heroin or other persons are on other
drugs. The addictive nature of ciga–
rettes is a major reason sales con–
tinue at high levels despite wide–
spread public knowledge about the
health hazards.
Most people start smoking to
conform to peer or social pressures.
They find smoking (more specifi–
cally, nicotine) at first acts as a
stimulant. Later they find they
need to smoke as a tranquilizer.
What's happened to these smokers
is they have developed a leve! of
tolerance and bodily adjustment to
nicotine. They must maintain that
!i:
leve! in their blood or they will
1
experience uncomfortable physical-
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psychological problems. In reality
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