Cigarette smoking is highly addictive—and it’s responsible for more than 480,000 deaths in the United States each year, including 41,000 from second-hand smoke, according to the CDC. That makes tobacco the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. Worldwide, about 7 million deaths each year are due to tobacco use.
The Causes and Consequences of Smoking
An addiction to nicotine, also known as nicotine dependence or tobacco dependence, often begins in the teen years. Most people who smoke have friends or family members who also smoke. The younger a person is when he or she starts to smoke, the higher the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, a drug found in tobacco.
In the short term, nicotine may distract from unpleasant feelings. Once smokers become dependent on nicotine, however, they experience physical and mental withdrawal symptoms that last for days or weeks, making it very difficult to quit. Many people who are addicted to nicotine continue to smoke even though they know it's bad for their health.
Although we are decades past the promotion of cigarettes as a personality enhancer or a weight loss aid, some young people are still beginning to smoke cigarettes. Research suggests that college students who smoke are more likely to believe the behavior provides emotional benefits and enhanced body image than non-smokers, perhaps driven by media portrayals of young, sexy women who smoke. They also tend to underestimate the harms of smoking. Both reasons may help fuel the decision to begin smoking or prevent them from trying to quit.
Nicotine is so addictive due to its chemical effects on the brain, but it may also be hard to give up from a social perspective. Around one-third of all cigarettes are smoked in social situations, research suggests, and many smokers are more likely to smoke when they see others smoke; they report that socializing is a key reason for smoking.
What to Know about Vaping
Some smokers use e-cigarettes or “vapes” as a substitute for regular cigarettes and other smoked tobacco products. E-cigarettes still contain nicotine, which can stunt the growth of a developing adolescent brain. E-cigarette aerosol contains fewer chemicals than the 7,000 found in regular cigarette smoke, but it is potentially harmful nonetheless.
Vaping devices contain chemicals such as diacetyl—a flavorant linked to lung disease—harmful organic compounds, fine particles that can be inhaled, and metals like nickel, tin, and lead. They come in a range of shapes and sizes, but all include a battery, a place to hold the liquid being vaped, and some kind of heating component. While typically used with nicotine, they can also deliver marijuana or other drugs.
Vaping devices are considered unsafe for teens and pregnant women.
For more, see Vaping.
Explore More About Smoking
For a comprehensive understanding of smoking, read our complete guide: