[MrLeRoy]

Nicotine was no more an addictive drug than the caffeine in your coffee or cola or chocolate bar until the Surgeon General changed the definition of addiction to include that which was previously considered an habituation.

Drug Category	Proportion of Users That Ever Became Dependent (%)
Tobacco	32
Alcohol	15
Marijuana (including hashish)	9
Cocaine	17
Heroin	23

- Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (1999), Institute of Medicine

[Mears]

Where are the stats on addiction to chocolate and caffeine? I just went out and bought 5 Cadbury chocolate bars that are on sale. I also drank a large coffee and smoked a cigarette.

I guess I'm a triple addict,but I have a good time.

By the way,caffeine will never be declared addictive or troublesome because the PC crowd likes coffee,the same goes for wine.

[Gabz]

1999 was years after the US surgeon general changed the definition of addiction.

And anyway - addiction is different than dependence which is different again from habituation.


I'm not going to argue the semantics of it, it's a waste of time.

What are the percentages of fatal auto crashes due to the use of those 5 substances?

What are the percentages of domestic violence reports due to the use of those 5 substances?

I would venture a guess that tobacco use wouldn't even make the list.

And to quell the onslaught (not from you MrLeRoy) of antis screaming about injurious and/or fatal house fires caused by careless smoking, the vast majority are caused by the primary factor of some type of substance intoxication.