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Do You Increase Smoking as you Age?

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norak

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At the Wikipedia entry on Drug Rehabilitation it says the following: "With regular use of many drugs, legal or otherwise, the brain gradually adapts to the presence of the drug so that the desired effect is minimal. Apparently normal functioning of the user may be observed, despite being under the influence of the drug. This is how physical tolerance develops to drugs such as heroin, amphetamines, cocaine, nicotine or alcohol. It also explains why more of the drug is needed to get the same effect with regular use."

This suggests that as you smoke, say, 10 cigarettes a day, your brain develops tolerance to it and to get the same amount of satisfaction as you did when you first started smoking you need to increase the amount you smoke, maybe go up from 10 cigs per day to 20 cigs per day. If you smoke, does this happen to you? Does this hypothesis sound right? Is there any scientific evidence for this ramping up of smokes?

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I smoked for about six years - from around 18 to 24. I did increased the amount I smoked gradually over the first year or so, from a cigarette or two to about half a pack a day. After that it remained pretty steady at around a half a pack.

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If you smoke, does this happen to you?
Yes. That is to say, when I used to...years ago. I never smoked much, but the amount I smoked was very variable. If I had smoked significantly less than normal for a few days and then went from that to smoking more than normal, I would feel the effect -- never good!
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I smoked cigarettes for awhile in late high school and early college, but I truly believe I wasn't addicted to them. I smoked varying amounts depending on different situations. While drinking alcohol, I smoked one after the other, but on a Saturday afternoon just watching TV, I might smoke one every few hours. I guess I was either a "social smoker" if there is such a thing, or I just don't have that addictive gene or personality???

My husband on the other hand is completely addicted to nicotine and when/if he ever decides to try to quit, I think he will have a very hard time. He smokes about a pack for every 24 hours he's awake and has for most of the 14 years I've known him.

With regards to prescription drugs, I took antidepressants for several years while recovering from depression due to a violent crime. Several times during those years, my dosage had to be increased to remain effective. Then when I was ready to stop taking them, I had to wean myself off over a period of a few weeks in order to avoid withdrawal symptoms. The same was true for the narcotics I was taking for my recent broken leg.

I'm not sure if my response has specifically answered your question, but I guess in my personal experience, the Wikipedia entry seems to be pretty accurate, except for cigarette smoking.

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I'm not sure if my response has specifically answered your question, but I guess in my personal experience, the Wikipedia entry seems to be pretty accurate, except for cigarette smoking.

I don't think that the entry is wrong for cigarette smoking. It's just that the effects and withdrawal symptoms of nicotine is so mild relative to things like narcotics that it is easily bypassed.

I have stopped smoking for long periods of times several times before, anywhere between three months to a year. It takes maybe three days for the withdrawal symptom to go away, and maybe a week to physically kick the habit entirely. The mental aspect obviously takes much, much longer to get over -- when you're bored, you want to smoke, when you're drinking, you want to smoke, when you're busy, you want to smoke, etc.

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Does this hypothesis sound right? Is there any scientific evidence for this ramping up of smokes?

Yes and yes. It´s proven both psychologically and physiologically. Underlying mechanism also explains abstinence syndrom.

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I smoked for almost four years. The amount I smoked was usually due to how much extra money I had, not how far along in my "smoking career" I was.

For example, during my senior year of high school, I didn't have any expenses and had a lot of extra cash. I was almost up to a pack and a half a day at that time (disgusting, I know). However, during my first year of college, I didn't have a lot of extra cash, and I only smoked a half of a pack a day. So, money was a bigger factor than the length of time in which I had been smoking in my case.

Edited by softwareNerd
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