A person who chain smokes uses the current, almost finished cigarette to light the next one. Even if you use a lighter but smoke one after another in quick succession, consider yourself a chain smoker. You may not consider cigarette smokers addicts; after all, they aren't breaking the law and don't seem impaired. According to the American Lung Association, inhaling nicotine causes it to speed to the brain faster than drugs taken intravenously, making this drug extremely addictive.
Significance
Including babies affected due to mothers smoking and secondhand smoke related problems, 443,000 Americans die each year from smoking, estimates the American Lung Association. While you can't put a monetary value on the toll these deaths extract from the family and friends of the victims, you can measure direct health care costs. The cost for direct health care to treat tobacco-related illness in the United States in 2004 was $96 billion.
Heavy Smoking Rates
Chain smokers can easily smoke more than 24 cigarettes per day. The rate of this type of heavy smoking has been on the decline. In 1974, 25.3 percent of adults smoked more than 24 cigarettes per day. Fast forward to 2008, and we have only 10 percent of adults who smoke more than 24 cigarettes per day. The American Lung Association attributes this decline to bans enacted on smoking in workplaces and other public areas. The high tax on cigarettes and awareness of smoking risks has also discouraged heavy smoking.
Chain Smokers and Craving
Nicotine withdrawal causes unpleasant symptoms such as mood disturbances, sleep problems and cigarette craving. Science News reports that a study conducted at the University of South Florida measured how long it took smokers to report withdrawal symptoms. Craving for cigarettes began less than 30 minutes after smoking for study participants who smoked a pack a day. Researchers concluded that nicotine addiction plays a role in every cigarette smoked. Chain smokers evidently become more strongly addicted and feel withdrawal faster than most.
How Does Chain Smoking Start?
Science Daily reports that just one cigarette floods nicotine receptors in the brain. Nicotine is able to actually alter the structure of the brain and how it works in one day. These changes have the ability to cause addiction with one cigarette. These changes are permanent. Once started, it is easier than you may think to slide into chain smoking, particularly if you enjoy having a cigarette to occupy your hands.
Quitting Help
Ninety percent of lung cancer deaths are directly attributable to smoking. Chain smokers may have a harder time quitting than some, but it is far from impossible. According to the American Lung Association, most smokers try multiple times before successfully quitting. Nicotine replacement gum, lozenges or patches can help with withdrawal symptoms. If these aren't helpful, prescription options include an inhaler and a nasal spray. These replacements work best when combined with a support program. Medications buproprion SR, or Zyban, and varenicline tartrate, or Chantix, can help smokers quit. For help, call the Lung HelpLine at 1-800-LUNG-USA.
