How Many Cigarettes Does it Take to Become Addicted?

It can take as little as one.

There is no set number of cigarettes that you must smoke before you become addicted to nicotine. It can take as little as one cigarette to develop a dependency. The important thing to remember is that everyone has different genes, so the number of cigarettes that it might take your friend to become addicted will not be the same for you.

Why is it so addictive?

Nicotine is a very addictive ingredient found in tobacco products. Like heroin and cocaine, nicotine acts on the brain to cause feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. What starts out as an occasional cigarette can easily turn into a daily habit. Before you know it, smoking can start to become a part of your everyday routine– while you are at work, in between classes, when you’re with a certain group of friends. Nicotine addiction sneaks up quickly and before you know it, you are hooked!

Adapted from:
CDC. “A Report of the Surgeon General; Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults” 2012. Accessed http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2012/consumer_booklet/pdfs/consumer.pdf

Why Tobacco Free

Be Free to Flirt

75% of young adults said that they would not kiss someone who just smoked.

What are young adults saying about smoking?

  • Girls think that kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray. That’s why girls prefer to kiss smoke free.
  • Guys think that being smoke free is hot. Period.

Ydouthink “What’s hot” videos:

What is social smoking?

We all know those people at parties who don’t actually have their own pack of cigarettes, but they‘re the ones ‘bumming’ cigarettes from other people, right? Social or occasional smoking is when someone smokes cigarettes with friends once in a while, but not every day.

Why is social tobacco use dangerous?

  • Nearly half of young people who try cigarettes become daily smokers. Because no one knows exactly when a person becomes addicted to tobacco, you put yourself at risk of addiction by even smoking one cigarette. Even if you think your addiction level is low, remember that most heavy smokers started out as occasional smokers.
  • People who smoke are more likely to begin using alcohol and 10 times more likely to develop alcoholism than people who never smoked.

Adapted from
California Department of Health Services (2003)
Ydouthink (2012) “What’s Hot” retrieved from http://ydouthink.com/whats-hot/what-guys-want.php

Be Free to Be Active

Benefits of Being Tobacco Free

  • For starters, you live longer when you are tobacco free. Did you know that on average, people who smoke die 13 to 14 years earlier than people who don’t smoke?
  • You do not have to worry about quitting later on in life. About 70% of individuals that smoke say that they want to quit but only 5% are successful in quitting for 3 months or more. Quitting can be a very difficult process that is why it is best to start now.
  • You don’t have to let tobacco get in the way of having a good time. Everyone knows that smelling like cigarettes can be a big turn off. But did you know that males who smoke are 50% more likely to suffer from impotence than men who don’t smoke?
  • You can spend your money on more important things. Buying a pack a day can set you back about $5 each time. Add that up over a year’s time, and you are investing about $2,000 in a product that causes lung cancer, heart attacks and premature death.
  • Here is the good news: You can start enjoying the benefits of being tobacco free within a few days of quitting. Did you know that 72 hours after quitting you can breathe easier and have more energy?
  • There is no better time to quit. Individuals who quit smoking before age 30 can undo much of the health damage caused by tobacco use.

Adapted from:
Center for Disease Control (2012). Fast Facts. Adapted from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm CDC. “A Report of the Surgeon General; Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults” 2012. Accessed http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2012/consumer_booklet/pdfs/consumer.pdf

Be Free to Save a Friend

The Effect of Smoking on Pets

  • Smoking is not only tough on you, your friends and family; it’s also tough on your pets.
  • Pets often end up eating cigarette butts, drinking water that contains cigarettes and breathing in second hand smoke.
  • Toxic particles from smoke stay on carpets and furniture, which can cling to your pet’s skin and fur.
  • This can lead to everything from breathing problems, to allergies, to diarrhea, to many forms of cancer.
  • Did you know that a pet can die from eating just one cigarette?

The Truth About Second Hand Smoke

Second hand smoke is breathed in by someone who is not smoking.

It contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.

Children and pets are more at risk when exposed to second hand smoke because they breathe faster and weigh less than adults, so the effects are much worse for them. They are more likely to suffer from:

  • Coughing and wheezing
  • Painful ear infections
  • Asthma and other breathing problems
  • Bronchitis and pneumonia

The Truth About Third Hand Smoke

  • Third hand smoke is the toxic ash that remains lingers after a cigarette, cigar, hookah or pipe has been put out. It coats the surface of a room, waiting to bother anyone that comes near.
  • Pets and children are at the greatest risk of being affected by third hand smoke because they often touch and mouth these surfaces when they play.
  • Third hand smoke contains cancer causing poisons and clings to hair, skin, clothes, furniture and carpet in the home, car and furniture in bars and restaurants.
  • The smell, stains and burn marks caused by third hand smoke can actually lower the value of your car and home.

It’s just another reason to be tobacco free, and protect or maybe even save a friend’s life.

Adapted from
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Surgeon General’s Report (2012)
Canadian Cancer Society (2012) retrieved from http://www.breakitoff.ca/
“How much does smoking really cost?” retrieved from http://www.costofsmoking.com/

Be Free to Spread the Word

Smoking Pollutes the Air

  • Cigarettes contain over 7,000 chemicals which are released into the air when a person smokes.
  • According to the World Health Organization, one billion people smoke cigarettes in the world, which means there is a massive amount of pollution being released into the air every day.
  • The toxic particles give the earth’s lungs (the trees) a lot more work to do.

Cigarette Butt Litter

  • Cigarette butts are the most commonly littered item in the U.S. and the world.
  • Cigarette butts never fully decompose.
  • The chemicals and additives from the cigarette butts go into the ground and pollute the soil and plants.
  • They also end up in the rivers and lakes where fish and animals eat them by mistake and often die from it.
  • The rest are left on the ground and will never decompose.

Other Environmental Impacts of Tobacco Use

  • Producing cigarettes is probably the most damaging to the environment.
  • To make cigarettes, tobacco leaves need to be dried, often done by burning wood for as long as 7 days.
  • It can take up to 5 pounds of wood just to make one pack of cigarettes. It takes one tree to make 300 cigarettes.
  • This process destroys 494,000 acres of forest every year – that’s equal to one third the size of Orange County.

Adapted from: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Surgeon General’s Report (2012)
Ydouthink (2012) “Deforestation and Cigarettes” TV Commercial retrieved from http://ydouthink.com/commercials.php
How Smoking Affects our Environment (2007) Jessica Taylor-Cassan
Toxic Butts retrieved from http://toxicbutts.com/