I’ve heard that it’s easier to quit heroin than smoking regular cigarettes. Anyone know of the ‘relapse’ rate for smokers versus hard drugs? -Jakeofalltrades1964
I don’t have any cites, but I can tell you that I’ve quit heroin and it was nowhere near as hard as quitting cigarettes, which I’m trying to do now for the umpteenth time. For heroin, the physical symptoms were way worse than the mental and emotional (no comedown, cravings, etc.). If I could puke all morning once and then be done with cigarettes for life, though, man, I would take that deal in a second.
ETA: To be fair, though, quitting heroin was just not difficult for me, and I’m told I’m unusual in that regard.
Actually, I will share some more of my personal experiences here. To wit: everyone I’ve seen smoke heroin was able to give it up easily, but most people I’ve seen smoke cigarettes are hardcore addicts. I strongly remind readers that the plural of “anecdote” is not “data”, however.
that’s a good question, i’ev always wondered the same. i’ve always heard smoking is the worst addiction. i’ve never done heroin or any other drugs so i can’t relate to that, but i’ve been a smoker for 16 years, and now i’m 32.
i don’t really get into the politics, science, and stats about smoking, so i’ll just speak on what i personally think. hopefully is if i am off base at all, i’m not too far off.
we all know that after 48-72 hours after quitting smoking, it’s no longer a physical addiction, and become a mental thing. i think that because cigs are legal, easy to get, and don’t kill you as quick as drugs makes it hard not to relapse. just to stay general, i’m going to say drugs aren’t easy to get, just to save time of going into the many exceptions. cigs are all over the place, anywhere you go, so the temptation is all around you.
when i was in marine boot camp for 3 months, i noticed i never once had any urge to smoke. but like an idiot, first day out, i gave in and bought a pack. i really don’t even know why i did it because i had to “relearn” to smoke. the first few packs were not enjoyable at all to me, but for whatever stupid reason, i continued.
i’m guessing with heroin and such, you only realize it’s time to quit when you see your life go into the shitter, or you’re going to die soon, or OD’ed, etc. and when you do decide to quit, there are a ton of outlets to help you out. cigs kind of sneak up you. 30 years later is when you’ll realize you screwed yourself when the doc gives you the bad news. or you can very likely be like my grandma who smoked salem’s for 60 years with no ill effect.
when my mom quit smoking, she told me after all the crap plans she tried, she was only able to do it when she truly wanted to quit. and she did it cold turkey. so i think heroin is much more of an immediate consequence and wake up call for a person. and it’s harder to get, more expensive (i’m assuming), you can’t find it at every vendor in sight, you can’t do it at a bar while drinking a beer, and it’s totally socially taboo.
i did try quitting once for 1.5 months, but on one random night, i let my brain get the best of me, so i quickly, easily, and painlessly went down the street and bought a pack. smokers also have this weird sort of ignorance that only smokers understand. we are fully aware of the potentials of smoking, but don’t really respect it until it’s too late. i’ve been smoking for 16 years, am in good health, have never suffered any ill effects from smoking, so like an idiot i keep playing russian roulette.
so to wrap up all my spiel, i don’t think smoking would be as hard if a person had no access to it. i was on a 14 hour flight not too long ago, and i didn’t see anyone freaking out from withdrawals, or mentally melting down as i would assume might happen with a hardcore drug user. i think because it’s so easy to get, mostly affordable, LEGAL, not totally taboo, accommodating in everyday situations like bars and such, and won’t kill you anytime soon…it makes doing it super easy, and quitting hell on your brain.
so i believe the ease of access is what makes it the hardest thing to quit…mentally. i’m sure physically there is much worse. and i don’t think it’s the cigs themselves. i personally can’t by into the idea that the drug nicotine is what’s so crazy addictive, like it is with heroin or cocaine. when i smoked after 3 months in boot camp, the nicotine made me ill, but it was the mind f@#k i was giving myself that got me.
ok, i’ll end it there for now, since as usual, i’m starting to write a book here.
just off hand, i’ve heard these stats before…don’t know if they are scientific though:
people who haven’t smoked by the age of 18 have an 80% chance of never becoming a smoker.
relapse i think is upwards of 80%, maybe more, but i’ve heard chances of relapse drop while progressing through these stages…72 hours, 21 days, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months. off hand i don’t know by how much though.
chantix has an efficacy rate of 44% i think, which is amazing.
I only smoked it for about two weeks before I realized that it wasn’t worth it, for a number of reasons. My life was no worse at the end of that time period than at the beginning, unless you count the vomiting (I don’t).
i just meant that in the sense of your life going down hill, it gives you better motivation to quit…just a guess. i’ve heard too that you have to build up an enjoyment to heroin. i guess the first few times are shitty.
so i guess i meant full blown addiction and not casual use.
Since acquiring CRS (Can’t Remember Shit), I cannot give you the exact cite/quote, but I did read somewhere that nicotine “opens a door” in your brain that never closes, and the craving stays with you forever.
So in that regard, it seems like heroin would be easier to stop.
I would appreciate some scientific clarification if any is available.
Thanks
Q
I know from experience that quitting smoking depends on your desire to quit. If you have a sincere desire to quit, you can do it. I smoked for 20 years, starting when I was 14. Quit at 34 cold turkey and have never craved a smoke again and am now 79. The bottom line is “JUST DO IT.” You will never regret it.
I have a friend who fought Heroin & kicked it, Cocaine and kicked that, (She has a Narconon 15 year coin, or something like that) but is still a smoker. She was unable to stay off the cigs.
However, I have talked with others who smaoked, and after quitting, the very thought of lighting up made them nauseous, so I think Quasimodem is not correct in all cases.
Heh, you sound like my twin brother. I also started at 14, smoked like a bad stove for about 25 years and quit cold turkey. Now I’m 81, but I can believe that it is addictive. Whenever I smell somebody smoking, I still have a strong urge to start again, but never did. Fortunately, it is becoming more rare all the time when I encounter the dreaded smoke. 
OTOH, after severe back problems and major surgery, I have been on opiates for many months. I tapered off the oxycodone gradually by myself, but when I tried to taper off the morphine, by myself, forget it. Had to go to the doc and get a schedule to taper off over a five-six week period. Even then, the last few hours before the next pill, had pretty bad withdrawal symptoms. No fun a’tall!
I’m going to go with USMC on this one.
I know of couple of former addicts.
My personal opinion is that they would have killed themselves or cleaned up sooner or later. They could only keep their addiction a secret for so long before it was noticed and they were confronted about it.
They were lucky in that they had concerned friends and family who helped them before they reached the stage of killing themselves (apparently, they had contemplated suicide).
Cigarettes are legal and relatively cheap. You don’t see people pawning their grandma’s jewelry for a pack of Camels. Malnutrition is not a side effect of nicotine addiction.
Cigarettes, while a dirty habit, are not as shameful as an addiction as heroin. Shame keeps the addiction hidden from friends and family which can result in more consequences.
Cigarettes, while harmful, are not as harmful as injecting street drugs. At least your know your source, not always the case with heroin. After I found out about my friends, I read some stuff about heroin use. Apparently injecting medical grade opiates (morphine) while addicting is not so bad physically as injecting street heroin. It is clean, sterile and filtered. The danger is in the preparation of the injection. You cook it and dilute it with unsterile water. You “filter” out the chunks with cotton and pull it up in the syringe. In doing this, you are also pulling up small pieces of cotton in with the heroin, these are irritating to the system. I also doubt most junkies sterilize the injection site prior to use. Even when using a clean needle all the time, this is still introducing nastiness in to the body, IV users are prone to all kinds of nasty infections as a result.
Although I generally agree with you on many points, I’ll point out that booze is also pretty damn cheap, and I remember my alcoholic Mother breaking into my piggy bank to get enough cash for a bottle of cheap wine.
DrDeth
Alcohol can go either way if you use my criteria. Addiction is certainly not black and white territory, by any means.
[quote=“DrDeth, post:9, topic:472324”]
I have a friend who fought Heroin & kicked it, Cocaine and kicked that, (She has a Narconon 15 year coin, or something like that) but is still a smoker. She was unable to stay off the cigs.
[QUOTE]
The interesting thing about this is that 12-step meetings (narcanon, AA, OA, etc.) are FULL of smokers. They used to sit in a circle and puff away until they were fairly recently forced to respect the buildings they were in and the few non-smokers among them. People who have been sober for 30 years stand around outside before and after meetings, proclaiming, “(Puff, puff) You newbies just (puff) have to learn to control your disease man (puff). You just don’t (cough) get it.”
I believe that the 12-step beliefs and philosophy have done a great deal to convince people that they can’t quit. That is, they look at any addiction, from nail-biting to heroin use, as a permanent condition. They’ve widely spread the information, correct or not, that you will always crave whatever it is you were once addicted to.
Their own research has indicated that this isn’t always the case. That people who are problem drinkers at one stage in their lives can sometimes handle alcohol (or whatever) at a different stage. But hard facts don’t mean anything to them…just like any other religion. In addition, a great deal of addiction research is performed by 12-step believers, so it’s suspect.
It’s probably different for different people. Some people probably don’t think of it much once they quit while others struggle every day. But if you consider the comparison you’ve presented, the heroin user can remove temptation entirely. You can move out of your drug-ridden neighborhood and get different friends. A smoker can’t really avoid smokers, advertisements for cigarettes, and other present temptations. They have much greater opportunity to fall back into old habits once they’ve quit than a drug user who cleans up might have.
I have seen some people do some pretty crazy-ass things in order to score a pack of smokes, from selling their shoes to turning tricks.
This has nothing to do with whether nicotine or heroin is more addicting, but relates to a train wreck here in Paulding County Georgia in 1883, in which several cars loaded with cigarettes tumbled off a trestle over Big Raccoon Creek.
It is believed that the availability of the “free” cigarettes led to many of Paulding County’s youth becoming addicted to them. Since this was before the advent of filters, I am inclined to believe it.
Q
I think these addictions are pretty idiosyncratic. I quit smoking the day I had a heart attack at age 28. For five years, I fantasized that I would be diagnosed with something incurable that would give me six months to live and I would take up smoking for that six months. Then that went away, but for maybe 10 more years I would regularly dream of smoking, kicking myself for restarting. And then woke up in great relief. Since then I have no desire and no such dreams. But it was hard.
I have never tried other drugs (well, marijuane once but it had no effect), but I drink occasionally and cannot even picture being addicted since even when it is freely available I might take one drink or none, but never really crave it. But I had an uncle who was alcoholic. I think it is body chemistry that makes all the difference.
I’ve been going to meetings for over 24 years, and never heard anything like that said by anyone with real sustained sobriety. Smoking, yes. Controlling the disease? Nope.
As for my own experience, I never used heroin, but I was quite hooked on opiates, and have had IV demerol, morphine, dilaudid, and fentanyl. And I was also hooked on nicotine.
Withdrawal was rougher with the opiates, and the cravings & obsessions were stronger. But many years into recovery, it’s the nicotine I think of more than the narcotics. And in my infrequent relapse dreams, I dream of getting a fix of Kodiak wintergreen chewing tobacco, not morphine.
FWIW, YMMV, etc.
I don’t know where you heard that, but man, is that ever wrong.
Let me put it this way: if I were convinced that heaven felt like the first hit of heroin, I would be Billy Graham.
It’s worth noting that smoking heroin has become more and more popular as users have become aware of the dangers of injection. The problem is that smoking is less efficacious and not totally safe either, which probably means that serious addicts are getting more and more exposure to the dangerous additives in the stuff. In fact, there was a serious problem in the late 90s and early 2000s with a heroin additive that could cause horrific brain damage when smoked. There were a handful of cases in both North America and Europe. FTR, the sheer quantity of dangerous additives in each batch of street heroin was one of the main reasons I decided to quit. Almost all illegal drugs are cut to some extent, but heroin is particularly bad: the drug itself is white, but the stuff you get on the street is light brown to dark black, and each batch tastes different, even from the same supplier. Scary stuff.
This. The major problem with these 12-step programs, IMO, is that they all seem to be both literally and figuratively religious. They ask God to grant them serenity and such, when, IMO, they should really be focused on fixing their damn lives themselves.