Gambling Addiction Vs. Nicotine Addiction

[Mzor203]

Which one do you think is worse? I was thinking about it earlier today, and of course I think cigarette addiction is worse, and I'll post my arguments after some others do. What do you think? Please provide support and evidence for your choice.

[Dolphus Raymond]

Well, one really screws with your health...the other doesn't, but if the addiction is so severe that the money lost is worse, then it's worse.

Depends on the person and the addiction.

[Mzor203]

Hmm? But think of how much money goes down the drain on cigarettes each day if you're severely addicted to them? And what about how cigarettes are physically and mentally addictive, and so barely anyone can quit, while being addicted to gambling can easily be remedied by some helpful relatives or family members intervening? Just some things to think about.

[iJack]

Gambling Addiction Vs. Nicotine Addiction

Gambling can be sopped in its early stages,

Nicotine is hard to stop once started, causes lung cancer, Kills millions, smells bad, ect.

[Mzor203]

Please provide support and evidence for your choice.

Any support you have for your argument? I want everyone's opinion on it, not just if they think one is worse. We have been led to our society to believe nicotine addiction is always worse, it seems, so lets dig deeper into the heart of it and see what we can come up with. Pretend we are going o write a persuasive essay.

[Dolphus Raymond]

Hmm? But think of how much money goes down the drain on cigarettes each day if you're severely addicted to them? And what about how cigarettes are physically and mentally addictive, and so barely anyone can quit, while being addicted to gambling can easily be remedied by some helpful relatives or family members intervening? Just some things to think about.

Two to three packs a day is generally the upper end for big-time addicts. So, for this, I'll assume 2 1/2 packs per day.

Including taxes, the average cigarette carton retail price in the U.S. averaged $4.63 in 2007. Weekly, that means the cost averages to $81.03 for the arbitrarily-defined 2.5-pack-per-day "average" tobbaco addict.

That doesn't fully factor in associated health costs, though. In 2002, the CDC released a report that estimated per-pack costs for cigarettes including health costs. I'm not sure if this assumes the original cigarette carton cost; my guess is that it doesn't. Those (presumably) add another $179.90 per week. That's probably a mean, and the median health cost to a smoker might be lower. My source does not specify that.

So, weekly smoking (not including lost productivity) costs either about $81.03 or, more likely, about $260.93. That's a lot of money, no doubt, especially when the emotional effects of ensuing disease aren't taken into effect (just health care). However, I imagine it's considerably less than a gambling addict can blow in the average week.

So, it depends on what you value. Smoking, with healthcare, is about $250-300/week. Gambling won't kill you itself, but it can kill your bank account a lot more and get you in some equally unhealthy situations.

There's no concrete answer that I can see.

Source for figures: Here (http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0207.pdf) (PDF)

[Mzor203]

Good arguments. Anyone else want to take a shot before I post up my rant against cigarettes?

[iJack]

No, go ahead

[Mzor203]

Ah, you may not, but there are upwards of 500 active members on this site. I'll give it a day. Tomorrow, perhaps, if I can get on.

[iJack]

But i wanna hear it, pm it to me

[Mzor203]

I'm sorry, but the fact is that I haven't prepared it yet, and most likely won't have it done by today. since most of the rest of the day is going to be running around packing things for my trip with my band to Edmonton. On the bus tomorrow I will not have internet, but I'll type it up then and post it here when we get to the hotel, providing they are nice enough to offer internet access.

[Underground_Network]

A nicotine addiction is worse, because both cases are similar in that they can financially hurt you, but a nicotine addiction can also take a toll on your health. Now the only argument that the gambling addiction may "win" is the social argument. Socially a gambling addiction is likely going to be more damaging than a nicotine addiction because a lot of smokers hang out with other smokers, and though a lot of gamblers hang out with other gamblers, once someone becomes extremely addicted to gambling they really seem to just isolate themselves and keep their eyes on the prize. Its not to say extreme nicotine addicts don't isolate themselves either, its just that nicotine addicts, despite the health effects still seem to socialize and hang out and be more normal. Gambling addicts spend 90% of their time gambling rather than dealing with other social situations. Gambling can also affect one's mental health. So you could argue that both have health effects, and though I don't know the exact statistic, I presume gambling addictions have caused more suicides than nicotine addictions.

[Mzor203]

Thank you for your submission, as I will now be calling it, because I am going to write up an article on Nicotine vs. Gambling with all the info that comes through here.

[theOperaGhost]

A nicotine addiction is worse because it is harmful both physically and financially. A gambling addiction is only financially harmful. Although it's pretty close. With a gambling addiction you can be hot and win a few thousand bucks a night. But more than likely you won't be and end up losing several thousand bucks. Nicotine might not cost as much as gambling, but in the end with medical bills and insurance and such, plus the risk of cancer, I'd still say a nicotine addiction is worse.

[Underground_Network]

^^ Not true as I explained before. A gambling addiction can have physical problems [more mental health issues, but those can physically affect your body], and a gambling addiction can often cause more harm over a shorter period of time. Extreme gamblers often run out of money fast and become unable to feed their addiction, and though you could say the same happens for nicotine addicts, it more often happens gambling addicts, and sometimes the addicts will do irrational things for money which can cause them even more emotional detriment if say they rob someone for cash and then get caught, because in prison they will be unable to feed their addiction and will slowly fade away. As I said before, I'm 99% sure gambling addiction causes more suicides than nicotine addiction.

[Close102]

nicotine because it can actually kill u.

[Underground_Network]

^^ So can a gambling addiction.

[iJack]

^^ true, true

[theOperaGhost]

^^ Not true as I explained before. A gambling addiction can have physical problems [more mental health issues, but those can physically affect your body], and a gambling addiction can often cause more harm over a shorter period of time. Extreme gamblers often run out of money fast and become unable to feed their addiction, and though you could say the same happens for nicotine addicts, it more often happens gambling addicts, and sometimes the addicts will do irrational things for money which can cause them even more emotional detriment if say they rob someone for cash and then get caught, because in prison they will be unable to feed their addiction and will slowly fade away. As I said before, I'm 99% sure gambling addiction causes more suicides than nicotine addiction.

I agree. I probably just didn't really say what I wanted to before (I was up for like 24 hours for prom). Overall I'd say nicotine addiction has cost more lives, but gambling addiction has ruined more lives for the reasons which you have stated.

[Genghis Khan]

Both are quite bad. I mean, you'd have to be an utter fool to lose all your money through cigarettes. With gambling, you could win a lot one day and lose it all the very next day. Here in the UK if you've lost everything you can still claim benefits and live comfortably so I guess it isn't so bad (still shit). If you're a smoker it's probably really likely to stay with you for the longest time until you get professional help, not to mention bad breath and teeth and passive smoking which harms people around you. By gambling you're not exactly hurting everyone near you, at the most the person around you that will be negatively effected is the one you'll be gambling with.

Yeah.

[aussiebunnie]

My dad was addicted to cigarettes and smoked quite a bit. It never really affected us, but it was not good for his health either. It was probably the hardest thing he did giving up smoking with nicotine patches. I think that is probably where the harm comes from where your body needs the nicotine to function normally because of years of smoking. With gambling the addiction is psychological where you need to fill that void and "break even" and think one more spin of that wheel will be the jackpot. I personally think smoking is worse.

[Commander Thor]

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