Tobacco. Habit or addiction
Emery E./Eugene A. Calame
I would welcome any comments on this newsnet, austin.talk, about
the subject of tobacco and it's drug nicotine.
nicotine (nîk´e-tên´) noun
A colorless, poisonous alkaloid, C10H14N2, derived from the tobacco
plant and used as an insecticide. It is the substance in tobacco to
which smokers can become addicted.
[French, from New Latin nicotiâna. See NICOTIANA.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third
Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic
version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights
reserved. From Windows 95 bookshelf.
Is it the drug nicotine is what hooks smokers? I have been aware
for sometime that nicotine can be purchased in the form of gum and
patches. There may be other ways but I am not aware of them. If the
drug nicotine is what hooks and keeps smokers coming back for more
wouldn't the use of the gum and patches make quitting cigarettes a
simple matter?
Anyone had any experience with gum and patches? Did they help?
What else besides nicotine could cause the adiction?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Eugene A. Calame
Austin, TX USA
eme...@ix.netcom.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chip Rosenthal
In article <31b899b0...@nntp.ix.netcom.com>,
Emery E./Eugene A. Calame <eme...@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> I would welcome any comments on this newsnet, austin.talk, about
>the subject of tobacco and it's drug nicotine.
Eugene - I recently quit smoking (quit day 3/20) and would be glad
to answer any questions I can ... particularly if you are considering
a quit for yourself. If you are considering a quit, I'd encourage
you to tune into the alt.support.stop-smoking newsgroup. If you
are interested in tobacco addiction issues in general, the FAQ for
that newsgroup has some interesting information and pointers to
web sites.
>Is it the drug nicotine is what hooks smokers?
It is a part of it, but not all of it. The addiction to smoking
is composed of a physical addiction to the drug nicotine, a
psychological addiction ("I need this ritual to calm down"), and
a habituation (an addiction to the act, "I need something to do
with my hands and mouth").
Since I quit cold turkey, I have phenomenal respect for the power
of nicotine. As strong as it is, that chain is broken in about a
week's time. The desire, however, continues beyond that. Clearly
there is something more at play here.
>I have been aware for sometime that nicotine can be purchased in
>the form of gum and patches.
There are a large number of therapies and approaches for quitting
smoking. Nicotine replacement, most commonly in gum and patches,
is a very common one. Again, even if you aren't looking to do a
quit, I recommend you check out the A.S.S-S FAQ for information
on this.
>If the drug nicotine is what hooks and keeps smokers coming back for more
>wouldn't the use of the gum and patches make quitting cigarettes a
>simple matter?
There are a couple reasons why this is not true. The physical
drug addiction is only part of the habbit. The idea is that
nicotine replacement allows you to fight the other aspects of
the habbit, and once conquered, deal with the nicotine withdrawl.
Another problem for some people is that you don't get the buzz from
these devices that you do from smokes. The nicotine replacement
devices try to keep enough in your body to fight off the withdrawl
symptoms. You won't get the peaks that you would from dragging on
a butt. Your body might not be entirely happy with this, but it
does fight off the significant portion of the withdrawl agony.
> Anyone had any experience with gum and patches? Did they help?
>What else besides nicotine could cause the adiction?
I hate to say it, but there is no magic bullet (or pill) to get
somebody off of cigarettes. Gum and patches might help. But maybe
not. Nothing will help unless the person (1) wants to quit, and
(2) has put together a program to get them through their quit.
Again, because I quit cold turkey I cannot give you any personal
experience with these devices (patches and gum). I did, however,
an awful lot of reading and research during my quit, and learned
quite a bit about the addiction.
Please do NOT take any of this to be discouraging. If you are a
smoker and thinking about quitting, I strongly URGE you to learn
more about it, plan out a quit, and go for it. What I'm trying to
avoid is having you think you can just slap on a patch and be done
with it. It might work, but the odds are long. I'd hate to see
you wander away discouraged because "the patches failed you".
Again, if you want to learn more, there is a bunch of good information
out there on the net. Good luck.
- chip (13wks)
--
Chip Rosenthal * troff programmer * <ch...@unicom.com>
Chip Rosenthal
In article <31B8CFA7...@tab.com>, JF Haugh <j...@tab.com> wrote:
>The nicotine addiction is pretty strong stuff, but the oral
>habit is just as real. Chewing gum or suckers or ... are great ways
>to get around the oral bit.
Agreed. One of my strategies was to drink water ... literally
quarts and quarts of it ... the first few days. This was great
because it also helps flush out the system, serves as a replacement
for coffee (a killer smoking trigger for me), gives a full stomach
feeling (so that I didn't chow down six tons of Oreo Double-Stuff),
and is just a very healthy thing to do -- a good start on developing
a new, non-smoking lifestyle.
The bottom line, however, is that I think the "right way" is whatever
way works. For each person, it's going to be different. Even though
I quit cold turkey, I would NOT discourage somebody from, say, using
nicotine patches. That's why I think some research and planning can
help increase the chance of success.
Roberta and Craig Becker
Emery E./Eugene A. Calame (eme...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: ... If the
: drug nicotine is what hooks and keeps smokers coming back for more
: wouldn't the use of the gum and patches make quitting cigarettes a
: simple matter?
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you're a non-smoker, right?
:)
: Anyone had any experience with gum and patches? Did they help?
: What else besides nicotine could cause the adiction?
I've used the gum and it was, IMHO, pretty worthless. I'm not a
"gum person" in the first place, and I ended up biting the hell
outta my mouth and tongue.
The patches worked incredibly well for me: I could put one on and
have no urge whatsoever to smoke...as long as I had a patch. The
tough part was cutting down on the patch strength--the 14mg patches
weren't as "effective" as the 21mg patches, and the 7mg patches
were hardly noticeable. *sigh* both times I tried quitting with
the patch system I ended up wearing a 14mg plus 2 or 3 7mg patches
_and_ smoking a pack a day before I finally admitted that it just
wasn't working. A big disadvantage of the patch method is that,
because you step down to a weaker patch every few weeks or so,
it's like you do the withdrawal thing 3 times instead of just
getting it over with once.
HOWEVER...I haven't had a cigarette since February of 1995; I
count myself as an official non-smoker these days. I ended up
using some of the left-over patches in this endeavor, and they
helped some, but the real secret to quitting smoking, if ya ask
me, is to really, truly, and seriously want to quit--having a
real solid practical reason to quit helps a lot, too. To make a
long story short, in my case I did it for my daughter. But...did
you ever see _Dead Again_? There's an awful lot of truth to what
Robin Williams said about how (loose quote) "you have to decide
if you're a smoker or a non-smoker."
Another thing that helps in quitting is to keep real, real busy.
For me, this involved doing a whole lot of yard work plus being
hyper-productive at my job. *sigh* but I do go on...ask any ex-
smoker about how they quit and you'll get quite an ear-full. But
you should realize that it's a _damned tough thing to do_; for
me, it was one of the toughest battles of my life. And I won and
I'm damn proud of it, thank you very much! :)
A few other random notes on the topic:
Another thing that helped was a simple observation that I read
somewhere on the net--it was that the urge to smoke will pass
whether I smoke a cigarette or not. It's true, and I found it
quite helpful to keep in mind when the urge struck.
I hope you'll pardon my cynicism, but I think that having to get
a prescription for the patches is a big load of BS. The conspiracy-
theorist in me thinks that a lot of doctors are making a lot of
painless $$$ off of office visits that last 2 minutes, most of
which is spent scribbling their names on a scrip pad.
During the times when I was attempting to quit, I met a number of
ex-smokers who told me stuff like "ya know, it's been 15 years now,
and I still miss it." Thanks fer nothing, ya assholes...this is not
exactly motivational. But I'm here to tell you: after 3 or 4 months,
I didn't miss it at all. And now, after more than a year, I can
barely remember smoking. This, from someone who did 2 packs a day
for, geez, 15 years. My point being that, despite what some people
will tell you, quitting is not going to be a heavy, day-to-day
burden that you'll carry with you for the rest of your life.
Alas, I can't enjoy coffee or alcohol any more because they were
too strongy linked with cigarettes. But tea is a great substitute;
I recommend Earl Grey.
Finally: much has been ballyhooed about the health benefits of
smoking cessation, and I guess it's true, but for me the biggest
surprise benefit of quitting was mental: it feels _good_ to know
that you've taken on an incredibly tough challenge _and beaten
it into the ground_.
Craig
--
-- Craig Becker bec...@bga.com http://www.bga.com/~beckers Austin, TX USA --
-- Austin Restaurants & Food - http://www.bga.com/~beckers/food --
-- Austin Gardening FAQ - http://www.bga.com/~beckers/gardening --
-- HTML Consulting Services - http://www.bga.com/~beckers/craig/tmr.html --
Emery E./Eugene A. Calame
>bec...@bga.com (Roberta and Craig Becker) wrote:
>Emery E./Eugene A. Calame (eme...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
>: ... If the
>: drug nicotine is what hooks and keeps smokers coming back for more
>: wouldn't the use of the gum and patches make quitting cigarettes a
>: simple matter?
>
>I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that you're a non-smoker, right?
>:)
>
Right. At one time I did about 3 packs a day. It's a toss-up
between one of the following why I quit.
1. Cigarettes went up to 35-cents a pack. (kind of puts a date on me
doesn't it)
2. Minor pains in my chest when I breathed in deeply.
3. Couldn't tell if that smoke coming out of the electronic
equipment, I was working on, was from the cigarette or the equipment.
I now know that at least one smoker was helped by the nicotine
patches so the nicotine is as important a factor in the addiction
(habit ) as the satisfaction of handling the cigarette. ( much like
playing with a pencil ).
I can assure you the desire to smoke will go away; At least in my
case it did.
These questions about smoking and nicotine came to mind when the
government started talking about making cigaretts a controlled item by
the Food and Drug Aministation.
Two questions remain for me.
1. It took a least a 21 milligram patch to help. How long does
pach last?
2. How much nicotine does a cigarette deliver ( or a pack )?
Anyone have the answers?
Happy trails.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Eugene A. Calame
Austin, TX USA
eme...@ix.netcom.com
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>: Anyone had any experience with gum and patches? Did they help?
>: What else besides nicotine could cause the adiction?
Don't know, therefore the question. I had heard the patches did
not help. If that was true nicotine would seem to play a very small
part in the habit.
>I've used the gum and it was, IMHO, pretty worthless. I'm not a
>"gum person" in the first place, and I ended up biting the hell
>outta my mouth and tongue.
>
>The patches worked incredibly well for me: I could put one on and
>have no urge whatsoever to smoke...as long as I had a patch. The
>tough part was cutting down on the patch strength--the 14mg patches
>weren't as "effective" as the 21mg patches, and the 7mg patches
>were hardly noticeable. *sigh* both times I tried quitting with
>the patch system I ended up wearing a 14mg plus 2 or 3 7mg patches
>_and_ smoking a pack a day before I finally admitted that it just
>wasn't working. A big disadvantage of the patch method is that,
>because you step down to a weaker patch every few weeks or so,
>it's like you do the withdrawal thing 3 times instead of just
>getting it over with once.
>
>HOWEVER...I haven't had a cigarette since February of 1995; I
>count myself as an official non-smoker these days. I ended up
>using some of the left-over patches in this endeavor, and they
>helped some,
> but the real secret to quitting smoking, if ya ask
>me, is to really, truly, and seriously want to quit--having a
>real solid practical reason to quit helps a lot, too.
absolutely.---------------------------------------------------------
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Eugene A. Calame
Austin, TX USA With all it glories and all its faults
it seems that
eme...@ix.netcom.com Life is a bittersweet waltz
(song sung by Leon Redbone)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roberta and Craig Becker
: between one of the following why I quit.
:
: 1. Cigarettes went up to 35-cents a pack. (kind of puts a date on me
: doesn't it)
: 2. Minor pains in my chest when I breathed in deeply.
: 3. Couldn't tell if that smoke coming out of the electronic
: equipment, I was working on, was from the cigarette or the equipment.
Regardless, congrats on quitting!
: These questions about smoking and nicotine came to mind when the
: government started talking about making cigaretts a controlled item by
: the Food and Drug Aministation.
: Two questions remain for me.
: 1. It took a least a 21 milligram patch to help. How long does
: pach last?
As I recall, a patch was good for 24 hours.
: 2. How much nicotine does a cigarette deliver ( or a pack )?
Heh heh...I'll bet there's a bunch of tobacco executives who could
tell you, but I suspect they're not talking.
I don't know for certain, but I believe that the 21mg patches (the
highest strength) were recommended for people who were doing at
least a pack and a half a day...I'd enjoy hearing from someone who
knows better. Fer what it's worth, the nicotine-per-cigarette
question is difficult to answer, due to varying levels between
types (lights, filters, low-tar, straights, etc) and brands.
Chip Rosenthal
In article <4q2fc9$c...@news3.realtime.net>,
Roberta and Craig Becker <bec...@bga.com> wrote:
>Heh heh...I'll bet there's a bunch of tobacco executives who could
>tell you, but I suspect they're not talking.
A smoker extracts about 1mg of nicotine from each cigarette. So a
21mg patch will deliver, over the course of a day, about the same
as a single pack.
This illustrates pretty well how powerful a drug nicotine is. If
you had a pile of nicotine that weighed as much as one single
penny (about one gram), you could feed your habit for a month
and a half.
The tar and nicotine amounts reported by the FTC test jigs are
fairly useless (and highly misleading). When human blood measurements
are made, nicotine amounts were found to be highly independant of
cigarette types. That is, light cigarettes really aren't.
I'll dig out references if anybody cares ...
--
Chip Rosenthal * troff programmer * <ch...@unicom.com>
"You realy need to read Canter&Siegal big time."
<d...@fox.nstn.ca> in <4p0be9$j...@news.nstn.ca>
sebastian wren
>I'll dig out references if anybody cares ...
Um... I hope you meant this, because I care. I'd LOVE to know some actual
stats about what, exactly, a cigarette contains, and what it does to
a person smoking.
Also chewing tobacco, if anybody has any information about that.
s.
Chip Rosenthal
sebastian wren <sw...@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu> wrote:
>>I'll dig out references if anybody cares ...
>
>Um... I hope you meant this, because I care.
Yes, actually I did.
One of the more interesting books I read was |Smoking, The Artificial
Passion| by David Krogh (W.H.Freeman and Co, 1991). If you want
to understand the science and physiology behind smoking, nicotine,
and the related habituation -- then check this out. Krogh surveys
the available literature -- including the conflicting literature
-- and does a good job sorting things out. This is NOT a self-help
book on how-to-quit. There is an appendix that is a self-admitted
perfunctory overview on quitting methods. The meat of the book,
however, tries to address the science behind this issue.
> I'd LOVE to know some actual stats about what, exactly, a cigarette
> contains
I suspect when you mention "what a cigarette contains" you are
referring to one of two things: either the new-fangled all-natural
no-additive cigarettes (e.g. Natural Spirit), or the recent
controversys about nicotine manipulation and additives (e.g. ammonia)
by the manufacturer.
My *personal* opinion on the first count is that tar is tar, nicotine
is nicotine, and it is foolhardy to worry whether your tobacco might
have been sprayed with pesticides or whatever. If you are going to
die from 'em, it will be from the tar, not the brand of fertilizer.
I'd suggest that if somebody is going to smoke, they shouldn't
create a headtrip over things of little consequence. If you are
worrying about the additives, you are focusing on the wrong thing.
If you aren't interested in quitting, then smoke whatever brand
you like -- whatever tastes best -- and enjoy your smoke. If and
when you ever work up the interest to attempt a quit -- deal with
that. But don't waste your energy or work up a guilt trip over
the small stuff.
As far as manufacturers' manipulation of contents (spiking nicotine,
adding ammonia, and the like) -- I think the revelations have been
too recent for the truth to have settled out. My suspicion is that
there is just too much damned money in the market for the manufacturers
to NOT have researched ways to suck people into their product and
then lock them down.
> and what it does to a person smoking.
Yes, that is a fascinating topic. Nicotine is a unique drug in a
lot of ways. The Krogh book discusses this.
> Also chewing tobacco, if anybody has any information about that.
The 1986 Surgeon General's Report was dedicated to smokeless tobacco.
It concluded that smokeless tobacco is a significant health risk.
What you do, essentially, is trade off the risk of lung cancer for
mouth and stomach cancer. [pp. 55-57, No If's And's or Butts,
Harlan Krumholz and Robert H Phillips, Avery Publishing Group,
1993]
The interesting commonality between chewing tobacco and cigarettes
is that in both cases, the nicotine is absorbed through the mouth.
This is, in fact, the most efficient and rapid way to get nicotine
into the body. Absorption through the mouth is even faster than
a direct injection into the bloodstream! If I recall right, it
takes about 8 seconds for the effects to kick in.
This makes sense if you think about pipe and cigar smokers. They
tend not to inhale, yet they still get the buzz. They absorb the
nicotine through the mouth.
Again, besides the books I mentioned, I'll recommend the
alt.support.stop-smoking FAQ. When I was quitting, I found
"Freshstart: 21 Days to Stop Smoking" by the American Cancer
Society a help. (I bought an old copy at Half Price. I don't know
if this still is published.)
--
Chip Rosenthal * Unicom Systems Development * <ch...@unicom.com>
Unix system programming/support * Internet * test/ctrl/comm systems
URL: http://www.unicom.com/ * 48 68 D8 BE 10 C8 6B DE 60 17 00 0B A7 83 99 8E
nnm...@gmail.com
> I would welcome any comments on this newsnet, austin.talk, about
> the subject of tobacco and it's drug nicotine.
>
>
> A colorless, poisonous alkaloid, C10H14N2, derived from the tobacco
> plant and used as an insecticide. It is the substance in tobacco to
> which smokers can become addicted.
> [French, from New Latin nicotiâna. See NICOTIANA.]
>
> The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third
> Edition copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic
> version licensed from InfoSoft International, Inc. All rights
> reserved. From Windows 95 bookshelf.
>
> wouldn't the use of the gum and patches make quitting cigarettes a
> simple matter?
>
> What else besides nicotine could cause the adiction?
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
One of the best products that I have ever come across to quit smoking is Nicorette Gum and I believe in that product because today with the help of that I used Nicorette Gum that allowed me to actively control on how much nicotine I used & when I used it.
I used Low Strength 2mg Gum: Since it was suitable for me, I use to smoke approx 12 cigarettes a day.
And so with the 12 Week Nicotine Replacement Plan of Nicorette I quit smoking. Today it’s been almost more than 6months and I don't get any cravings.
Thanks and Cheers to Nicorette and its Quit smoking Products. http://www.nicorette.in/
Regards,
Neil