why is hookah not addictive?

[lilotaku]

[quote name='wheyfast']I have an addiction.......................................................................
............................................  Its that damned demon Diet Coke......  Thats the monkey on my back.  Hurry get it off.  [/quote] choke the monkey........

[Claytron]

[quote name='Calcartman']I both agree with you and i don't.  I know many people who claim they don't 'need' something; but they 'want' or 'crave' it; and then if they're forced to go without they can't function.Thats an addict, as true to definition as possible.  ...[/quote]Well caffine is significantly less addictive than nicotine - and everyone responds differently to different drugs. Caffine and nicotine aren't 'ruin your life' drugs. They 'fit' into our lives as best we can make them fit. They usually fit quite naturally - and if your addicted you make them fit - but they don't impare you in anyway so you can do other things immediately. They have a very low time commitment - even hookah, 45 minutes to an hour on average isn't that long depending on frequency.People who are truely addicts have miswired their pleasure/reward center and actually seek out that substance without concious control over it. Most people with addictions have a denial component.[quote name='GQ_playboy']alright maybe i chose my words incorectly..... PERSONALLY i know i would never get addicted to it... i have my stupid little phases where i get hooked on things... even non addictive things!  Honestly... i think will power is a huge factor.... personally i dont see how smoking anything is addictive and ive smoked a few cigarettes in rez... it repulses me... Shisha again i can't afford the addiction... not money wise but time, i cant afford the time associated with it....[/quote]You COULD very well become addicted to something. Saying 'I cannot' is a lie to yourself. That's not to say you will, but it is most definitely possible depending on what you choose to put in your body during your lifetime. Chances are your 'hooks' were not addictions. And sure, will power is a factor in some sense - but not for true addiction. By definition someone who is addicted only has the illusion of will power to themselves.[quote]believe it or not Claytron... there are people out there that are significantley less likley to get addicted to things..... PERSONALLY i can drop any habit i form... If my dr. told me to stop smoking tommorrow... i love it, but i would have noo problem dropping it then and there... and I think there are more people out there like me.[/quote]OF COURSE everyone's milage will vary. Everyone's biology is mildly different. I state that readily above. I'm glad you're so sure of yourself - though I think it's a dangerous line of thought and not one that would benefit most people which is my point. Hopefully you'll never be proven wrong. (I mean that sincerely.)[quote]You want scientific proof fine. Chemical dependancies form at different rates for different people... this is because chemical dependancies evolve faster for people that have lower levels of neurotransmitters...  Smoking anything is bad I agree... but alot of things are ... even eat can be "bad"... moderation is KEY....live happy be active... smoking a bit of shisha every once in a while won't kill you...[/quote]I never stated that it is NOT different for every person. Biologically, true addiction has to do with the addiction gene as well as other factors. Though I'm not aware of a single case of 'addiction immunity' since it has many factors. I mostly agree with 'moderation is key' - but moderation over a lifetime is a significant ammount of use. There is no way to tell how much any given person needs to smoke to cause the various health problems associated with it. For some people that ammount could easily be very little. Your family medical history could help you best to decide that. My whole point is that people take substance use and abuse very laxidasically because they don't really think about what they're actually doing and it's possible ramifications - even if they are aware of them many have a 'maybe others but never to me' attitude. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I personally feel it's better to acknowledge the very legitimate dangers involved and then decide whether you wish to continue with what you are doing. I'm clearly aware of what's involved and decide to smoke my hookah occasionally anyways. Maybe it's a bad decision. Only time can tell. But that's a decision each person has to make for themselves. There's no point in lying to yourself.

[DizzyGuy]

This seems like it should be in the serious discussion forum

[MrGuy]

lol.yeah, not long ago (a few months ish) scientists said they thought that you were like 80% more likely to become addicted to cigarettes (i dont know if it meant tobacco in general) if you had a certain gene. i'm thinking that gene runs in my family as theres a long history of smoking on mums side, and 2/3 of my brother smoke cigs (and god knows what else)

[Claytron]

The addiction gene(s) was discovered back in the 90's though I don't hear it discussed much. You can be tested for it - it just involves cotton swabbing in your mouth. I have no idea how much it costs to do so though. It significantly increases your disposition to addiction. However, not having it doesn't mean you're in the clear obviously. It just means are aren't predisposed to the addiction disease.The test is still pretty uncommon though. I'm sure it will become very common in the future.

[MN Hookah]

i really think a main reason why hookah is not addictive is because it really has very little amounts of nicotine in it but also i could say it is addictive because the flavors are so good that you want more everytime so its split to me.

[Claytron]

To quote from the thread I started on nicotine dossage:[quote name='calcartman']So for 1g of shisha, that means 5mg of nicotine. I believe most cigs are somewhere between 0 and 1.2mg+ (clicky) of nicotine.  Meaning for say a 10g bowl, thats roughly 40-50 cigs.[/quote]So the assumption above by MrGuy was a 10g bowl of washed tobacco. But if you smoke an unwashed brand like Naklha, etc - than your nicotine dosage is potentially much higher. That's not to say you absorb all the nicotine from a cigarette or a hookah bowl - but either way for unwashed tobacco you're getting a significant dosage of nicotine.

[Buford]

Nicotine is a substance that can cause physical addiction, but like most substances I think people have different "trigger" levels that are required to actually cause addiction. Cocaine is highly addictive, but a friend of mine back home who shall remain nameless was a pretty regular user of coke (even did crack) and then just quit outright with no apparent effect (said he didn't see the point and it was too pricy and risky), so it seems that he did not hit his addiction threshold.Personally, I've had an off-and-on affair with tobacco for years. I generally like tobacco, but I get into using it for a while only to lose interest and not bother for a good while. I have chewed tobacco in the past for weeks at a time only to lose interest and not touch it for ages, and I used to smoke shisha practically daily but maybe do it three times a week at max now. I get back into pipe smoking occasionally, sometimes smoking more than one pipe a day, only to lose interest after a while and not touch any type of tobacco for years - not out of wanting to avoid it, but simply because I just don't have any interest in it. Right now I'm doing dip tobacco (Skoal), and have been for about a month to alleviate the boredom at work, but I'm growing tired of it now.As used to be stated in some mandatory alcohol education class I had back in college, regardless of your trigger level the key is moderation. If you never do it enough to hit your supposed "trigger level" you're spared from craving the substance. Genetics plays a big role in it, so if you have a history of addiction to whatever in your family your threshold is probably lower. Luckily for me, my father seems pretty resistant, and it seems like I am as well since I do enjoy tobacco but rarely if ever feel a jonesing for it and "must have it".

[GQ_Playboy]

yeah i remember in one thread a user stated he couldnt wait till tommorrow and wanted to smoke something.... i've never really felt like that... i think it has to do with how active you are too... I weight train about 5 times a week and run 10 K on sundays.... Scientifically i dunno if this plays a role in chemical dependancies... but if something i was doing was deterring me from weight training or running i would stop right away..... keep fit and do what you want in moderation, exercise probably offsets a few of the negatives of smoking anyways.... (obviously not the cancer related stuff) but my lung capacity hasn't really been affected...Cheers

[Claytron]

I don't believe exercise effects chemical depenancy but it certainly helps remove negative elements from your system more quickly.

[Joseph]

Something to remember about genetics, genes don't equal fate. Also, things are controlled by multiple genes. Even in a simple model, like drosophila (fruit flys), many genes affect the sensitivity to alchohol and the amount of tollerance they can build. Same with nicotine. Its easy to get up in the whole "addiction gene" thing, but it is not that simple. Genetics are very complicated. Don't count on being immune to addiction because of genetics, you will probably be dissapointed.

[Sonthert]

I have a read a fair amount in research for a book I've been working on for some time:Cigarettes is by far the most addictive substance known. Caffeine is more addictive than cocaine, both are less addictive than cigarettes. How many people know a person that smokes cigarettes at the same time they're smoking hookah? How many people know somebody who uses a hookah as a replacement for cigarettes? What's the success rate for nicotine patches/gum? 15-20% (Which is higher than the 5-6% cold turkey rate). How does all of this relate? I would guess that there are at least three addictive principles in cigarettes, nicotine being only one of them. If not more. If nicotine was the only addictive principle, then wouldn't nicotine patches/gum success be higher? Your friends that have to smoke cigarettes while smoking hookah aren't getting their addictive chemical from the hookah, so they have to still get their fix from the cigarette. Your friend who smokes hookah instead of cigarettes may indeed be addicted to the nicotine. This is all conjecture. I assure you. I think hookah is slightly less addictive because it doesn't (at least I don't think it does) contain other addictive components. Additionally, as I just wrote in some other thread, the studies I've heard about show that addiction rate goes down with the older you are and many people don't start smoking hookah until they're 17-18 or even older.