Can you be predisposed to nicotine?

[Magenta]

I'm just wondering people's thoughts on this. I grew up with parents that smoked. My dad quit, my mum only smoked socially. My grandparents, on the other hand, have basically been chain-smoking my entire life.

I have friends who smoke, I walk by smokers all the time in the street. And as I've gotten older, every time I smell it, I want a cigarette. And I've never smoked in my life (okay, not entirely true, I've smoked pot all of once and I don't mind hookahs but I mean regular cigarettes).

Yes, you don't have to say it. "Don't start smoking." I don't want to but at the same time I do. I get it's incredibly unhealthy and addictive and better just to avoid entirely but it's weird that I almost feel a craving just from secondhand exposure now.

Anyone else or just me?

(And no, I'm not just posting this here, I've actually read some interesting research into the genetic predisposition of smokers and likely smokers, I'm just wondering if actually people have felt this, not just research papers.)

[Karkat]

You know, aside from constantly being around cigarettes and never having smoked, I can relate to this.

I've always really liked the way cigarette smoke smells, and I wondered what it'd be like to smoke (naturally it's a lot different, but I wasn't dissatisfied per se)

I have no idea how to answer this from a scientific viewpoint though. I'll have to look it up though, it's an interesting question.

[Magenta]

I mean, I'm not looking for super scientific answers really.

I don't even like the way they smell. It's just a weird craving I can't figure out because there's literally nothing appealing about it to me except that in those moments I actually want to smoke.

Like that makes no sense to me at all unless my lovely upbringing has something to do with it.

[Karkat]

I mean, I'm not looking for super scientific answers really.

I don't even like the way they smell. It's just a weird craving I can't figure out because there's literally nothing appealing about it to me except that in those moments I actually want to smoke.

Like that makes no sense to me at all unless my lovely upbringing has something to do with it.

Well I meant scientifically-backed/confirmed/disproven, as opposed to "yeah, my cousin blah blah blah" XD

Interesting. I wonder how much nicotine is in secondhand smoke?

I feel like predisposition to addiction would also play a part. (Which is funny, because I think I'm the only addict in my family too. Am I...adopted?)

[Gigablue]

You can definitely be socially conditioned to be more accepting of smoking. If you are raised around smokers, you are more likely to be a smoker yourself. Conversely, if you are raised in the absence of smokers, you are less likely to smoke. This is definitely not the only factor, but it certainly plays a role.

There is also a genetic component. People vary in their susceptibility to addiction. Some people get addicted to substances more easily than others.

I was raised by parents who never smoked. All of my grandparents had quit long before I was born. Smoking always seemed foreign to me, and I never had any desire to do it. Having fairly severe asthma, which makes me cough and wheeze whenever I'm near smokers probably also played a big part.

[Paladino]

I'm a smoker, about 10-15 a day. I highly recommend avoiding it, I started socially and only started by assuming I could quit, big mistake on my part for thinking that. That was 5 years ago. It also burns a big hole in your packet, with some places charging nearly up to £10 for a packet of 20.

[Perfectly Flawed]

Incoming science nerd!

Yes you can be predisposed to enjoy the smell of nicotine. Cigarette smoke is very similar to licorice in the fact that most people either love it or hate it. It's been shown that many things can cause the love or hate of these things, but having them around in your childhood can make you associate them with positive thoughts (so long as your family life was good for the most part). By the time people reach adulthood the chance that their views on the smell and taste of these products is very low because of how strong each are.

Other evidence points towards genetics causing some of the like and dislike of things like cigarette smoke. When someone intakes cig. smoke a chemical response in their brain triggers emotions. These emotions vary person to person, but for some people they are very positive emotions that make smoking seem good, while for others it will activate neurons that make people angry, nervous, etc...

The National Institute of Health has found that these emotional responses in the brain can be attributed to second-hand smokes ability to carry nicotine to people who are not smoking. There is a good chance that as you grew up even though your use of cigarettes was non-existent, your intake of nicotine was relatively large. This in turn could have caused you to get a minor nicotine addiction without ever intentionally smoking.

I hypothesize that the reason this form of nicotine addiction, which I will now refer to as second-hand addiction (SHA) is significantly weaker than a smokers addiction because of the lack of mental addiction. Nicotine only takes 72 hours to completely clear from somebody's body which leads to their physical addiction being gone. The issue with smokers is that the mental addiction to smoking is much stronger than the physical, so even after 72 hours they still crave cigarettes. With SHA the user doesn't have the mental addiction to smoking, and they only have a minor physical addiction. As far as addictions go nicotine is one of the weakest ones, so it makes sense that people with SHA can avoid smoking without too much effort.

Basically many things can affect the way someone views the smell of cig. smoke, and it's not unlikely that some people would enjoy the smell and want to smoke after smelling it regardless of their history with smokers. Since you were around it your whole life it makes sense that your body finds the idea of smoking attractive even though you haven't smoked.

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2011/nida-02.htm

http://www.killthecan.org/additional-resources/the-effects-of-physical-withdrawal/

[Karkat]

Incoming science nerd!

Yes you can be predisposed to enjoy the smell of nicotine. Cigarette smoke is very similar to licorice in the fact that most people either love it or hate it. It's been shown that many things can cause the love or hate of these things, but having them around in your childhood can make you associate them with positive thoughts (so long as your family life was good for the most part). By the time people reach adulthood the chance that their views on the smell and taste of these products is very low because of how strong each are.

Other evidence points towards genetics causing some of the like and dislike of things like cigarette smoke. When someone intakes cig. smoke a chemical response in their brain triggers emotions. These emotions vary person to person, but for some people they are very positive emotions that make smoking seem good, while for others it will activate neurons that make people angry, nervous, etc...

The National Institute of Health has found that these emotional responses in the brain can be attributed to second-hand smokes ability to carry nicotine to people who are not smoking. There is a good chance that as you grew up even though your use of cigarettes was non-existent, your intake of nicotine was relatively large. This in turn could have caused you to get a minor nicotine addiction without ever intentionally smoking.

I hypothesize that the reason this form of nicotine addiction, which I will now refer to as second-hand addiction (SHA) is significantly weaker than a smokers addiction because of the lack of mental addiction. Nicotine only takes 72 hours to completely clear from somebody's body which leads to their physical addiction being gone. The issue with smokers is that the mental addiction to smoking is much stronger than the physical, so even after 72 hours they still crave cigarettes. With SHA the user doesn't have the mental addiction to smoking, and they only have a minor physical addiction. As far as addictions go nicotine is one of the weakest ones, so it makes since that people with SHA can avoid smoking without too much effort.

Basically many things can affect the way someone views the smell of cig. smoke, and it's not unlikely that some people would enjoy the smell and want to smoke after smelling it regardless of their history with smokers. Since you were around it your whole life it makes sense that your body finds the idea of smoking attractive even though you haven't smoked.

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/may2011/nida-02.htm

http://www.killthecan.org/additional-resources/the-effects-of-physical-withdrawal/

Interesting! Thanks!

[marrisa]

I think so.My mom smokes(dad doesn't)and me and my cousin started by stealing hers.Not a genetic thing but maybe I would never have started.