Why is smoking called an addiction?

Why is smoking called an addiction?

Many people think everyone is an addicted to something. Actually, addiction has a very specific definition. Addiction means that you use a behavior or a substance that creates a sensation in a human being that has to be increased over time to maintain that addiction. Someone doesn't smoke one cigarette and get addicted. Someone can smoke a cigarette and feel high, that feels great, and want to repeat that. But you're not yet addicted, you're experimenting with something. The second part is that once you set the cycle in your brain, you have a definition called withdrawal. You'll have withdrawal from any true addictive disorder. You can have withdrawal from chemical dependency. You can have withdrawal from alcohol. You can have withdrawal syndromes from marijuana. You can have withdrawal syndromes from sexual addictions. It requires both increased tolerance to the behavior or this chemistry that you're using, and once you stop the behavior or the chemistry a pattern of withdrawal which is specific for that addiction. So, why is nicotine the agent that people say smoking is an addiction versus a habit? It's because nicotine absolutely fits that pattern of definition for addictions that the American Society of Addiction Medicine uses as a consistent definition, to say “this behavior or this pattern of behaviors and withdrawal symptoms” is tolerance plus withdrawal equals addiction.