# Safely addiction to what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318 "2009-07-08T11:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/21 "2009-07-08T17:03:06Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Wrong. Nicotine gum also has adverse health effects, just not as bad as those of tobacco products. > > Among other effects, nicotine by itself is a stimulant, constricts blood vessels, and raises blood pressure. It also causes a cascade of effects on the central nervous system. As a compound, it is fairly toxic. For example, pure nicotine is far more toxic than cocaine. > > One life insurance company that I recently looked at dings you for _any_ use of nicotine-containing products, including the use of nicotine gum. Hey, since the OP has such strong willpower, I’m sure a couple weeks of nicotine use (to get a good physical addiction established before quitting forever) wouldn’t be _too_ harmful. I think it would be a very good educational experience. Even though I feel evil for recommending it, I’d kind of like to hear about how it turns out. He too can discover in a direct and personal way why 95% of smokers who try to quit fail in any given year. Might knock him down a peg or two. ---
**Author:** ![Claire\_Beauchamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@Claire\_Beauchamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claire_Beauchamp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/22 "2009-07-08T17:05:45Z")
> [@DanielB](#): > > I always thought being addicted to smoking was mental pissweakness. Please go back to high school and take the health class where they discussed drugs and addiction, and the difference between physiological and psychological addiction. We’ll wait. > [@](#): > > I want to become addicted to something as an experiment to see if it is mental pissweakness. Try heroin. Or better yet, meth. Let us know how that goes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/23 "2009-07-08T17:14:46Z")
I second nicotine gum. While not harmless it is certainly legal, and not all that dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/24 "2009-07-08T17:19:07Z")
> [@Claire\_Beauchamp](#): > > Try heroin. Or better yet, meth. Let us know how that goes. Meth isn’t legal or safe but I think that is still a good recommendation. I suggest he post again in a year with personal photos, mugshots, and news footage clips. Upper middle-class suburban housewives sometimes get hooked on meth, the most evil of all drugs, and the results are never pretty to make the understatement of the year. There is also a good reason why you rarely see an older heroin addict with any assets. Almost all of them are dead or dying. The only way out at that point is a maximum security prison. > **[Partnership to End Addiction Is Where Families Find Answers](https://drugfree.org/)** > > The Partnership is focused on preventing and addressing substance use disorders by providing families, communities and professionals with practical knowledge they can trust to support young people at risk or struggling with addiction. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/25 "2009-07-08T17:20:18Z")
Taking a stab at the “definition” part of this… which I suppose might also answer the OP’s question, at least obliquely. An “addiction” is when your body is physically dependent on some X substance, in order to continue processing normally. If that substance is abruptly no longer provided, then the processes which were propped up by X are disrupted. Physical withdrawal symptoms are the result of this disruption, and can range from irritiability (nicotine) or headaches (caffeine) all the way up to death (going cold-turkey off heroin or [alcohol](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_withdrawal_syndrome)can in fact kill you, particularly if you have other health problems like a bad ticker). Note that there is nothing “mental” about any of this. Nor pissweakness. You could argue, I suppose, that the pissweakness in question refers to weakness in the face of temptation (“If you were pissstronger, you would ignore your discomfort and DT’s until they go away”) but that’s as far as it could possibly go, and it’s quite a stretch as it is. (Also - I don’t want a Lance Armstrong bracelet that says “LiveStrong” but I guess I could go for a “PissStrong” bracelet. Especially if it’s also yellow.) ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/26 "2009-07-08T18:56:03Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Sounds to me like you’re already addicted to this way of thinking. Try giving that up. Seriously. I recommend going to your local university library, asking the nice librarian to help you find some articles in medical and scientific journals where smart people who have spent whole careers studying this issue publish their work, and reading some. That would give you an alternative to pulling ideas out of your gut, a habit you may or may not be able to break. There is some really interesting work being done on the biology and genetics of how various addictive substances and activities (e.g. gambling) vary in their effects on the brains of different people. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/27 "2009-07-08T20:57:01Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Physical withdrawal symptoms are the result of this disruption, and can range from irritiability (nicotine) For me, the withdrawal symptoms from nicotine are _way_ more than irritability. Physically I get ulceration of the mouth - last time I went cold turkey, I ended up with more than 30 mouth ulcers, including one that was bigger than a quarter, on the back of my throat. They bleed, and after a few days I am unable to eat, and eventually, to speak. Psychologically, I get near-total insomnia - and if I do sleep, all I do is dream about smoking - and my “irritability” verges on the psychotic - intolerable “red mist” anger, nearing violence. I wish I could slap the 14-year-old I was when I first tried it out to see what the fuss was about. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/28 "2009-07-09T00:30:11Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > For me, the withdrawal symptoms from nicotine are _way_ more than irritability. Physically I get ulceration of the mouth - last time I went cold turkey, I ended up with more than 30 mouth ulcers, including one that was bigger than a quarter, on the back of my throat. They bleed, and after a few days I am unable to eat, and eventually, to speak. See your MD, but probiotics can help with those. Also a toothpaste without Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) . ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/29 "2009-07-09T01:38:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I second nicotine gum. While not harmless it is certainly legal, and not all that dangerous. Oh, don’t go there. I started with nicotine gum as an intern, to help stay awake. I graduated to chewing tobacco within 5 months, and took a long time to get free of that. 13 years later, I was finally nicotine-free again. Now, 12 years since my last nicotine use (and over 19 years since my last opioid or alcohol use) I still crave the occasional dip, and have eyed the nicotine gum with longing when under stress. That nicotine s**t is worse, in terms of long-term cravings, than IV demerol was for me (and that was no bloody f**king picnic by any stretch of the imagination). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/30 "2009-07-09T06:01:56Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Oh, don’t go there. > > I started with nicotine gum as an intern, to help stay awake. I graduated to chewing tobacco within 5 months, and took a long time to get free of that. 13 years later, I was finally nicotine-free again. Now, 12 years since my last nicotine use (and over 19 years since my last opioid or alcohol use) I still crave the occasional dip, and have eyed the nicotine gum with longing when under stress. That nicotine s**t is worse, in terms of long-term cravings, than IV demerol was for me (and that was no bloody f**king picnic by any stretch of the imagination). I didn’t say not _addictive_, just not all that dangerous _compared to smoking._\* But I will bet the OP has a very rude awakening coming to him as regards “pissweakness”. It’s a foolish idea, I agree. But some dudes just can’t learn otherwise. Nicotine is addictive as hell, I know dudes and dudettes in Narcotics Anon who said that quitting junk was easier than quitting smoking (often said while nervously tapping out another cig. But at least they are not in denial, they know they’re hooked, and they know they should quit) (Likely with junk it’s harder to beat the physical addiction, but with smoking/nicotine the drug is everywhere, even in prison- well at least until recently anyway) - and even your dipping wasn’t as dangerous as smoking, but did your gums ever recover? ---
**Author:** ![DanielB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@DanielB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanielB)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/31 "2009-07-09T08:10:57Z")
Hello guys it’s fun to have sparked those feelings to give so many of you the impression that I think I’m mentally piss-strong and somehow I think I’m in some way superior to people with addictions. PurpleHorseShoe you said - You could argue, I suppose, that the pissweakness in question refers to weakness in the face of temptation… That’s exactly what I mean, it’s just that I was too straight to the point. Not necessarily pissweak in general, as TruCelt’s old man is a great example of someone who is clearly piss-damnstrong (way more than me overall) except perhaps when it comes to temptation. My whole problem with people saying there are physical and phychological withdrawals is that my girlfriend said the hypnotherapy will result in her just not wanting cigarettes. That’s about as much detail as we got. I just can’t help wondering what about those so-called withdrawal symptoms. Or as her example babysitting some children, being able to go without for most of the day, I can’t help but find that doesn’t make sense to me. We could say perhaps only smoking half as many cigarettes that day, hence my total agreement with what PurpleHorseShoe said. Because surely a true addiction as most people understand it be more like felling they incrediblygoddamnsonofabitchamazinglymotherfuckingmust have a cigarette and that would just mean taking measures to smoke out of the children’s view, rather than just cutting down while in their company? Or if it’s a habit, a near-unbreakable habit perhaps of hands needing to do something that drives the need to smoke and that plus wanting a smoke kind of build up together until they end up feeling they must have to smoke it or may as well die - surely just driving to a forest and going for a bushwalk, taking a dog for a walk, going for a drive, or anything as a significant distraction or are those people’s thoughts way to focussed on the cigarette to even consider doing something distracting? If that’s the case then surely it can’t be anything other than plain old mental pissweakness in the face of temptation. As for smoking, I tried a few cigarettes occasionally as a teenager just like most people would, at parties usually. But then I focussed on the novelty of the headspin rather than any kind of uplifting feelings from it, and it was only an occasional one-off occurance for perhaps a pack, maybe less all up in total. But of those multiple occasions there were never any feelings of needing to repeat the experience. Daniel ‘tends to think of things in a clinical rather than compassionate way’ B. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318/32 "2009-07-09T08:50:35Z")
> [@JustThinkin](#): > > Exercise. Getting addicted to exercise is NOT safe; there are cases of people getting addicted to the “runner’s high” and trying to run on a broken leg. > [@Khadaji](#): > > Last year after my 9th surgery, coming off the pain meds, I experienced bad withdrawal symptoms. My doctor reframed my condition as “dependent” rather than “addicted”. In his mind addiction implies a non-legitimate use/abuse and dependence happens when using a drug for legitimate medical conditions. AFAIK, this is an arbitrary distinction and physically it means nothing. > > It was a real bad three days. Nausea, depression, lack of energy, lack of appetite, shivers - it was miserable. When a friend called and I found myself crying for mostly no reason, I was horrified to finally realize that something was wrong and it was probably due to withdrawal. > > Looking back I experienced these to some degree after \*each \*of my operations. I used to think that the depression that came after surgery was a side-effect of the surgery. Now I suspect it was related to coming off of the pain meds. > > During those three days, every time the thought would creep into my mind: _you know, just one pill would make this go away_ - I would remind myself that then I would probably have to start over. I felt so miserable that I can actually tell you exactly when the spell broke. I know it sounds nuts but it really was almost like a switch was turned off - at 3:00 PM on the third day I suddenly felt: Wow, things will be OK. > > I now know that weaning myself off would have been easier on me. I wish my doc had counseled me better. His reasoning, perhaps not invalid, is that there are patients who will experience these symptoms simply \*because \*they have been told that they might. Actually, “dependance” and “addiction” are apparently two different things. You can google for quite a bit of stuff on the topic; [here’s](http://www.thedailyheadache.com/2005/10/opiods_addictio.html) one I found. > [@](#): > > Pain specialist Scott Fishman sums up the difference between patients who are dependent and those who are addicted well: “The difference between a patient with opioid addiction and a patient who is dependent on opioids for chronic pain is simple. The opioid-dependent patient with chronic pain has improved function with his use of the drugs and the patient with opioid addiction does not.” > [@DanielB](#): > > As for smoking, I tried a few cigarettes occasionally as a teenager just like most people would, at parties usually. But then I focussed on the novelty of the headspin rather than any kind of uplifting feelings from it, and it was only an occasional one-off occurance for perhaps a pack, maybe less all up in total. But of those multiple occasions there were never any feelings of needing to repeat the experience. If that means anything it’s more likely to mean that you are less genetically inclined to nicotine addictiveness than to imply any sort of strength on your part, or weakness on the part of addicts. Or you just didn’t take enough to get hooked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safely-addiction-to-what/502318.md?page=1)