Withdrawl, Addiction factors: Heroin Vs Tobacco

[Aftermath]

now i know heroin has a phisical withdrawl.. does tobacco? i heard its just as hard, if not harder to quit smoking than it is heroin. Right now im smoking for the head rushes. one drag and im good to go.. but once that stops how easy will it be to quit?
quitting usuly isnt a problem with me... hardcore pothead 4.5 years, smoking bowl after un-needed bowl several times a day, ever day.. quit cold turky. 2+ E every weekend for 2 months.. quit the same time i quit weed.. did mushrooms every few months, now i quit that as well as acid. I was smoking speed by myself every day for a period of time within that same frame.. as well as some ridilin and some coke.. quit all that shit at once.. youd think id have major mental withdrawls.. but the only thing i craved was weed, and that was cured by drinking beer..
how hard would it be to stop smoking if i can quit speed and pot and E all at the same time cold turky? compared to H?

 

[dr seuss]

i seem to remember that new scientist published an experiment waaaay back in 93 that determined that nicotine (as an isolated substance) was more physiologically addicting than diacetylmorphine.
i'll check at home

 

[SovietContin]

now i know heroin has a phisical withdrawl.. does tobacco? i heard its just as hard, if not harder to quit smoking than it is heroin.
Being a user of both, I can go a lot longer without heroin than cigarettes.
Sometimes I get sick of heroin and want to be straight. But cigarettes don't change my behavior. Not to mention they don't require 2.5 hour drive to obtain. They're cheaper and socially accepted. All I need to do is go to the nearest gas station less than 10 minutes away to get them.

Right now im smoking for the head rushes. one drag and im good to go.. but once that stops how easy will it be to quit?
It really depends. Last year I made it a few months without smoking. It wasn't that hard. But I went back to it this fall and it's been extremely hard. I've given up my Camel Menthol Lights and switched to Marlboro Ultra Lights and significantly reduced my intake, but I just can't break away from it completely.

how hard would it be to stop smoking if i can quit speed and pot and E all at the same time cold turky? compared to H?
You really can't compare quitting other substances to quitting heroin. It's something you're pretty much tied to for life. And the way a heroin addiction works is much more complex than most other addictions. Not to mention there is almost nothing on earth worse than heroin withdrawals... at least while you're going through them.
And there are a lot of other factors that make quitting cigarettes very different from quitting illicit drugs.
I somehow doubt it's going to be that easy for you, though. Simply because you're asking instead of going cold-turkey like you did with other drugs.
However, cold-turkey is not really an appropriate term. The term itself comes from part of the symptoms of heroin withdrawal, which include feeling extremely cold despite the temperature around them and often getting goosebumps.

 

[Cornelia_Fabulous]

HA!
If you can quit smoking cold turkey, more power to you. I only know one person who did (my dad). Stopping smoking cigarettes is (for me) impossible.
I do meth on a more or less regular basis, and I have no problem stopping in time to be able to work the next day, while everyone around me has to go on for at least a day or two longer. I have no problem giving myself month-long breaks between taking X.
But going to bed and not have cigarettes to smoke before falling asleep? Unthinkable.
Honey, I'll get up at any time, in any weather; if I don't have money I'll beg; if my car's broken I'll walk, but I HAVE TO HAVE TO HAVE my nicotine fix.
I have never done heroine, so I don't know how it would affect me as far as addiction.
Then again, it's my experience, you might be able to quit nicotine, and like said, if you do, more power to ya'.
[ 17 May 2002: Message edited by: Cornelia_Fabulous ]

 

[hedtwin]

never done heroin, however there is not a chance i could possibly quit cigs. Its not just the nicotine, its the habit of it, not a chance i could stop

 

[placid space]

Originally posted by SovietContin:
[QB]
I somehow doubt it's going to be that easy for you, though. Simply because you're asking instead of going cold-turkey like you did with other drugs.
[QB]
good point
i think that smoking a cig can also be some sort of a ritual which is really hard to break and you also might be tied to it 4 life.
ive never been an eager smoker but heroin withdrawl is really bad...my opinion > worse

 

[UngratefulNinja]

I managed to quit smoking cold turkey, after 4 years of 3/4 to a pack a day of smoking.
It sucked, it REALLY fucking sucked. I was utterly intolerable for a week, you couldn't bother me about anything or I'd turn into a fire breathing monster ready to bite your head off while foaming at the mouth. My friends even urged me to START smoking again so I wouldn't be such an asshole constantly, but after like 2 weeks of wanting to smoke it finally sort of died down and I've yet to have another smoke since. I did start smoking a bit more pot to make up for tho :D

 

[quale]

Don't take my opinion too seriously as I have never been really addicted to one or the other. It seems however that which is more addicting depends on what sort of scale you use. Something like 9/10 people who try nicotine become 'addicts' while heroin is much lower.
However having used both the craving to keep doing heroin is pretty intense. Also nicotine its just like I will be in a little good mood and from talking to close smokers they are just kinda irritated and annoyed without a cigarette. NO were near the difference between being opiated and not. Finally no one gives up lives jobs family etc.. for nicotine while they will for heroin.
My guess is what is going on is heroin is far more addictive (I smoke a cigarrette no compulision...shoot up once and even if it wasn't that great I want to do it again and again). However, the social factors and the realization that heroin addicts (in the current system of illegality...with free open opiates this wouldn't happen) end up worse off gives people a much stronger incentive to stop using h thus in some statistical sense it is less addicting even though its basic power to create cravings and so forth is much much strong.
Ohh and I don't deny physicall withdrawal isn't bad but it really isn't want causes problems. It is the mental cravings/withdrawal that bring you back.
[ 18 May 2002: Message edited by: quale ]

 

[sweatybee]

I dipped Copenhagen for 15 years. It was very hard to quit, but, I managed to after several months/years of trying. I have no problem with cigarettes at all. I think it was just the ritual of dipping that was so hard to stop. It was so relaxing to me. I miss that shit still!

 

[Hellfiregurl]

I don't know... the two substances are very different as most have said.
Of course, heroin's physical withdrawl is waay worse, though I haven't been physically addicted, I have seen people go through it(at least the beginning till they got their fix). Otherwise, I think heroin is more of a permanent psycological addiction, as you can go months, even years, without it, and still want it. So it's more of a question of personal willpower than anything.
Ciggarettes, on the other hand, I think*, are more of a physical addiction. I honestly believe, if I ever manage to quit, I think I would Never take it up again. They provide me with no Real pleasure, it's just that if I go a few hours without one, I will start to freak out practically. I will cry, I will scream, I will feel like I'm on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I have never really tried to quit in the past eight years, the longest I have gone without one in that time is probably twelve hours max.
So I guess my answer is, they are too different to compare. But I do have this advice, don't smoke! Come on, I Know they don't give you a great high, I could see any other drug, but cigs just aren't worth what will happen very quickly. If you smoke a pack a day, you are wasting about 90 - 120 bucks a month on them! Think of all the FUN things you could buy.

 

[Ronald]

Indeed tobacco must be considered a more addictive substance than the opiates. Think laterally and you find that most (if not all heroin) addicts are smokers, whereas the reverse ceratinly doesnt hold true (legal statutes being ignored). Most people find that chasing heroin inhalation is alot more effective if it is "chased" with a deep inhalation from a cigarette. So while an addict may be able to kick their skag habit the chances of them quitting smoking is actually quite remote.

 

[*KANE*]

the only time in my life that i was a heavy smoker was when i was doing dope regularly. Now that I almost stoped the D , I get sick when i smoke a whole cigarette. I usually only have a nicotine craving is when I am on some drug .

 

[FreakK]

i have always wondered how some could consider nicotine withdrawal then same or even worse than heroin withdrawal..i have seen people trying to stop smoking and YES they get irritable but thatn is nowhere near as extreme as a heroin user trying to kick...heroin/opiate withdrawal is like hell on earth, with the chills, puking, that nasty flesh burning feeling, leg kicking etc etc...a nicotine user has no idea what types of hell aan opiate user has to go thru when kicking the drug...
as far as mentally which is more qaddicting i would venture to say they are prewtty close..i have never smoked but as with any drug taht gives one a good feeling, it will be addicting and one will want to continue to use it...
my parents have smoked ffor years and i ask them what "feeling" they get from their cigs and they cant really answer it...is it just a mild dopamine rush that one receives from the nicotine..can it actualy be considered a "high"...