Addictive Qualities of Popular Drugs

[nabraxas]

Dependence: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, the rating users give their own need for the substance and the degree to which the substance will be used in the face of evidence that it causes harm.

Withdrawal: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

Tolerance: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.

Reinforcement: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.

Intoxication: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.

Source: Jack E. Henningfield, PhD for NIDA, Reported by Philip J. Hilts, New York Times, Aug. 2, 1994 "Is Nicotine Addictive? It Depends on Whose Criteria You Use."

http://drugwarfacts.org/addictiv.htm

[El Barto]

my 3 main addictions are weed,smokes and good old cocacola

i tried quitting all for a couple weeks

by far coke seemed the worse

it was all that was on my mind and by day 6 when i got cravings for it i would start shaking, get real angry easy feel sick

as soon as the coke craving went so did all the crap

in that week i may have thought about smokes or weed once or twice

granted i drink excesive amounts of coke (80-90% of what i drink) i still woulnd think a product targeted at kids could have such withdrawal symptoms

i ended up being offered lots of weed to do a little task

i smoked ,slept then woke up had a ciggy and some coke forgetting i was quiting em

[Jesus On Peyote]

i ended up being offered lots of weed to do a little task

i smoked ,slept then woke up had a ciggy and some coke forgetting i was quiting em

Lol, thats always the way it happens

Nice chart

Edited August 10, 2007 by Jesus On Peyote

[Hagakure]

i remember reading about some case where people in a mental care home were cut off from caffeine after previously having several very strong coffees a day. after a while some of the mental health issues in some of the individuals cleared and the people were discharged.

[SirLSD]

i personally dont think that nicotine is as addictive as it is made out to be. i think it is just because it is legal, acceptable, and so easily available that it rates so highly. when wuitting it is so easy to go buy another pack. or bum a smoke off a friend. i smoked for 9-12 months while i was with an ex. once we broke up i quit with zero withdrawal or cravings. it was friends smoking around me and me thinking "why not" that kept having a smoke from time to time. meeting my wife who was against smoking put an end to that.

cannabis smoking from weekly for 2 years to most days for a year or so was just as easily quit. once it was no longer enjoyable because of the place it put my mind in i just stopped.

6 months of iv oxycodone use after meeting my wife was a totally different story. so addictive. bad withdrawals that lasted for months. major cravings. no amount of pressure from my future wife or family would influence my choices. only my supply being stopped forced me to stop.