Talk:Addiction

The reference to nicotine being as addictive as heroin can be found here at the CDC site: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit/canquit.htm

CDC cites no reference or research to qualify this statement and it seems difficult to believe because withdrawl from opioid addiction results in severe *phyical* symptoms not apparent in nicotine withdrawal.

Smokers may have a much harder time and face a much bigger hurdle if you tell them they're as addicted to something on a par with heroin.

I believe we should be more encouraging by saying something like.

''You may have heard nicotine is addictive as heroin, however this is much disputed and little or no data to support this idea exists. Many people who have smoked for years easily quit on long airline flights, when they have a cold or the flu, or when they are hospitalized leading to the belief that nicotine is no nearly as addictive as you might think.''