Shouldn't It Be Habituated, Not Addicted?

plugugly · Mar 10, 2017

Isn't "addicted" defined by physical symptoms when quitting and adverse effects on work, relationships and the like? Habituated as I recall is psychological effects when quitting. Quitting cigarettes doesn't give you the shakes and sweats or anything physical that I know of, but psychological "cravings" and so forth - well, yes. So, isn't "addiction" kind of a sloppy propaganda word applied to smokers cause it sounds more nasty? That's what it seems to me. So. Just say'n.
Plugugly

cosmicfolklore · Mar 10, 2017

I can only speak for myself, but I went through periods of sweats, not being able to control my thoughts, and headaches when quitting cigarettes. I was in the most foul of moods for weeks.

I can go periods of time (up to one month) without my pipe or any tobacco, but on that first few days, it's all I can think of. Being sick helps me go periods without my pipe, but as soon as I can, I am back to back to back bowls throughout the day. It's not the same as with cigarettes, but I can definitely tell that I "need" the nicotine.
This comes up often. Is it a medical definition, or a laymen term we use? I am not in the medical field, and could care less what the doctors say... if it is contrary to what I think, ha ha. All I know is if I don;t get my morning pipe with my coffee, some poor sumabich is going to get their ass in a sling before the end of the day.
I'll let the scientist hash out the specifics for what happens to the rats in their mazes. For me, I know how I feel. If someone else is not addicted, or says they're not, then there's really not much I can do about that.

aldecaker · Mar 10, 2017

Well, I wish I were merely habituated to nicotine, but I think I may be more addicted.

fitzy · Mar 10, 2017

adverse effects on work, relationships and the like

Tobacco can certainly affect work and relationships. I don't mean to be negative but after reading some of the cellaring posts around here it is certainly possible someone's ruining their life spending money they don't have on tobacco.
I personally don't think I have an addiction as it doesn't affect me if I don't smoke and go days at a time without smoking my pipes.

aimlesswanderer · Mar 10, 2017

I was 100% addicted to cigarettes. I tried to pacify the cravings with a mix of vaping, nasal snuff, and the occasional pipe bowl, and even the occasional pouch of snus when things got really bad, but the addiction was real and the withdrawals were horrible.
I suffered headaches and complete lack of focus, an angst that took three days to grow to it's peak, and 5 weeks to wean away, the shakes, the shits, the sweats, quit zits, sores on my scalp, and my hair was untameable. My skin felt oily, and not just from the cold sweats. It was as if something was being leached from my skin, and whatever this was may have accounted for the zits and sores.
I am now cigarette free, and for the most part have ditched the vape, but do buy the odd 10ml bottle every now and then. I take a pinch of nasal snuff occasionally throughout the day, and smoke a few pipe bowls a week. My nicotine consumption is a fraction of what it was before.
I am no longer a cigarette addict, but still consider myself a nicotine addict. My addiction is now manageable.

pipeman84 · Mar 10, 2017

It's good to remember that the first Surgeon General report (1964) focused on smoking didn't consider it addictive, but habitual. It took 24 years of propaganda and a fanatical anti-smoker, C. Everett Koop, till smoking was declared addictive (SG report 1988). Then all hell broke lose, because one can't debate/argue/discuss with addicts, right?

sablebrush52 · Mar 10, 2017

When I gave up the cancer sticks in 1983, I went through several weeks of withdrawal, sweats, nausea, rashes and sores on my skin, etc. Definitely physical addiction. Haven't had a cig since and have no desire to have one. Didn't smoke anything for years thereafter until I picked up the pipe again. I don't like nicotine and favor blends that are light in that element. I can, and do, put down the pipe for weeks at a time with no issues.

unkleyoda · Mar 10, 2017

I think everyone is different. For me, I love nicotine, in all forms. Pipe, dip, and nasal snuff. I would smoke cigs for a few years, and stop cold turkey, and it was no big deal. The first few days, I'd crave a smoke, but it wasn't bad. I wouldn't take any nicotine in when I would stop, so it wasn't that I got my nicotine elsewhere that did it. I just think I don't really get addicted to nicotine. Don't get me wrong I do crave it, but if I stop it's not really that big of a thing for me to be without. Also I am a nicotine heavy weight, I'll smoke high nicotine tobacco, dip and use snuff all at the same time.

jpmcwjr · Mar 10, 2017

Some are habituated, some addicted, and others who are neither among the brotherhood of pipe smokers.
Did I leave anyone out??

lasttango · Mar 10, 2017

Withdrawal from being a 2-pack a day smoker is intense. Sweats, headaches, sleeplessness, anxiety...
I have never heard that it isn't physiologically addictive.
Sex, gambling, shopping, and other non-chemical addictions cause our brains to manufacture their own chemicals/neurotransmitters which we can become addicted to. (dopamine)
Trying to quit any "psychological" addiction can cause adverse physiological withdrawal symptoms.
Habituation is more like getting used to living near the noisy airport or getting used to that one wet sock or a gradual getting used to an adverse stimulus... to the point where it's not annoying anymore.

jitterbugdude · Mar 10, 2017

The problem is, society links cigarette smoking with ALL types of tobacco. Tobacco is not addictive. Cigarettes are due to all the chemicals added. Look on any addiction website or rehab center. There are a set of criteria that define addiction. Some of these are: An increased need for the substance ,ie 2/day today, 4 tomorrow, 10 next week etc, Loss of the ability to hold down a job etc. I'm pretty sure most of you guys that started smoking a pipe just a few years ago are not now smoking 57 bowls a day and collecting an unemployment check because you got fired from your job. Most of us pipe smokers can easily go for a few days/weeks between bowls, not so with heroin, alcohol or cigarettes.

jefff · Mar 10, 2017

I have smoked a pipe for 30 years but I never got my nicotine from them. I smoked cigarettes until 8 years ago. I had what I would call a mild heart attack. I recognized the symptoms and got to the hospital fast enough to avoid permanent heart damage.
I still smoke a pipe but when I NEED nicotine I get it from gum or lozenges. I smoke, and have always smoked a pipe for the taste and that primal feeling of taming fire in a bowl.

toobfreak · Mar 10, 2017

Some are habituated, some addicted

Habit is an addiction of the mind, the other an addiction of the body. I used to smoke really strong Indian cigarettes but never became physically addicted. Either kind of addiction is but a matter of willpower in order to break. When your smoking becomes a need of suppressing a craving more so than merely satisfying a desire, it might be time for you to think about cutting back. I will occasionally stop for a day or a few when I feel that it is time for the body to take a break.

tinsel · Mar 10, 2017

Quitting cigarettes doesn't give you the shakes and sweats or anything physical that I know of

Before switching to a pipe, I tried to quit cigs a few times ...
Shaking, sweating, anxiety, irritability, and more happened to me.
And the HEADACHES. By far the worst part of trying to cold-turkey a cigarette addiction is the headaches.

warren · Mar 10, 2017

This may derail the thread and I'm not naming names but, there are a lot of off the wall observations here with regard to addiction, nicotine with regard to pipe tobaccos and etc. Must be a lot of medicos here with more knowledge than is generally available to the scientific, medical community.

voorhees · Mar 11, 2017

I don't actively seek the "nic" hit. I do enjoy it if it is light. I also can leave tobacco alone for days if so inclined. I just enjoy smoking too leave it for too long.

Shouldn't It Be Habituated, Not Addicted?

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