Most people who smoke tobacco start during their teenage years
or as a young adult. There are many reasons why a person starts to smoke. For some teens, it is a way to rebel against their parents.
Other teens may feel pressure from their friends (peer pressure)
and begin smoking as a way to appear “cool”. Some may be
modeling a parent’s or sibling’s behavior, and others believe it is a way to relieve stress or boredom. Even if you don’t think you are
going to keep smoking, it is very easy to get “hooked” or
addicted because of the nicotine found in all tobacco products. Being dependent on (addicted to) the nicotine means
that you need to keep getting nicotine. Your body
depends on it to feel comfortable and you will have
uncomfortable symptoms if you don’t get enough of it or
often enough. When you don’t get enough nicotine you
will have symptoms of withdrawal.
Addiction to the nicotine in tobacco can happen very
quickly, even after only smoking for a short time or
smoking only a few cigarettes. The good news is that you
can overcome addiction to nicotine. Knowing more about
the science behind nicotine addiction may make it easier
for you to take steps to becoming tobacco-free.
The simple facts:
Nicotine is a chemical that is present in all forms of tobacco.
Nicotine is also found in electronic cigarettes and the liquid
used in ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems).
Nicotine is highly addictive. When a person uses tobacco,
either by smoking cigarettes, using chewing tobacco or
by using another form of tobacco, nicotine enters the
body and activates nicotine receptors in the brain.
The faster the delivery of nicotine to your body, the
greater the addictive effect on the brain. Cigarettes have
been designed to give high levels of nicotine to the brain
very quickly.
When you smoke a cigarette it only takes six to ten
seconds for the nicotine to reach your brain. This makes
smoking tobacco very addictive

View more