Smoking a tough addiction, teens discover

Study finds some are vulnerable from the first puff - but kids naively think it will be easy to quit habit.

CHARLIE FIDELMAN, The Gazette

Within months of their first puff, most teen smokers struggle to stop smoking but can't .
A Université de Montréal study mapping the stepping stones to tobacco addiction shows the process has definite stages and starts even earlier than believed.
Lead author, epidemiologist Jennifer O'Loughlin, found that most adolescent smokers were naive about their ability to quit.


Many made a first serious attempt to quit after 21/2 months of sporadic smoking - and most failed. Cravings and withdrawal symptoms grew, along with discouragement.
"And by the time they've smoked for 21 months they have lost confidence in their ability to quit," O'Loughlin said.
"As soon as they experience craving, the story is over. They're on the trajectory to becoming an adult smoker."
Despite early and increasingly difficult efforts to quit, it took about three years for the young smokers to realize they could not stop smoking of their own free will.

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