Chain smoking

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10 packs of Marlboro cigarettes, which can all be consumed in a 2 day period by a single heavy chain smoker.[citation needed]

Chain smoking is the practice of lighting a new cigarette for personal consumption immediately after one that is finished, sometimes using the finished cigarette to light the next one. The term is most often used more loosely to describe people who smoke relatively constantly, though not actually "chaining." However, no clear definition exists as to how many cigarettes per day a person has to smoke to be considered a chain smoker, as the term is rather associated with perceivable behaviour than being or offering an actual quantitative measure. Chain smoking is a term primarily applied to cigarette smoking, although it can be extended to cover cigar and pipe smoking as well. It is a common form of addiction.[1]

Contents

Causes[edit]

The use of cocaine or amphetamine with cigarettes can result in chain smoking.[2] Many people chain smoke when drinking alcoholic beverages because alcohol potentiates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, leading to re-sensitization and hence inducing a craving.[3]

The extent to which chain smoking is driven by nicotine dependence has been studied. It does not seem that the amount of nicotine delivered is a significant factor as the puff volume correlates poorly with the frequency of cigarette consumption.[4]

Clinical use[edit]

Chain-smoking is given as an example of excessive addictive behaviour in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[5] It may be used as a form of aversion therapy for smokers who are unused to such heavy smoking, inducing them to give up altogether.[6]

Ventilation[edit]

Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) professionals claim that an airflow of about 1000 cubic feet (28.32 cubic meters) per minute per smoker is required to maintain satisfactory air quality when the smokers are chain smoking.[7] However, research confirms that current HVAC systems, while important for general air quality, cannot control exposure to secondhand smoke.[8]

In culture[edit]

 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2012)

Famous chain smokers include:

Yul Brynner was another chain smoker who famously figured in a posthumous anti-smoking campaign by the American Cancer Society ("Just don't smoke"),

Ashton Kutcher chain smoked since the age of 16, until he quit in 2005 to prepare for his role in the 2006 film, The Guardian. Another notable chain smoker was the eminent paleontologist Sir Ralph Howard Fowler, who was known for smoking in the shower. HM the Queen of Denmark, Margrethe II, is also a notable chain smoker.

The British soap opera EastEnders character Dot Cotton is a fictional chain smoker. The prevalence of never being seen without a cigarette in hand, i.e. habitual or constant smoking, is highlighted in the TV series Mad Men which depicts social mores of 1960s America.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Charles Gerras (1976), The encyclopedia of common diseases, p. 17, ISBN 978-0-87857-113-0 
  2. ^ Gary L. Fisher, Nancy A. Roget (2008), Encyclopedia of Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery, p. 194, ISBN 978-1-4129-5084-8 
  3. ^ Rose J, Brauer L, Behm F, Cramblett M. (2004), "Psychopharmacological interactions between nicotine and ethanol", Nicotine & Tobacco Research 6 (1): 133–44, doi:10.1080/14622200310001656957, PMID 14982697 
  4. ^ Kolonen S, Tuomisto J, Puustinen P, Airaksinen MM. (1992), "Effects of smoking abstinence and chain-smoking on puffing topography and diurnal nicotine exposure", Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 42 (2): 327–32, doi:10.1016/0091-3057(92)90535-N, PMID 1631188 
  5. ^ Helen Keane (2002-05), What's Wrong with Addiction?, p. 100, ISBN 978-0-522-84991-2 
  6. ^ James Cocores (1991-07-23), The Clinical management of nicotine dependence, ISBN 978-0-387-97464-4 
  7. ^ Brian Allan Rock (2006-01-13), Ventilation for environmental tobacco smoke, p. 48, ISBN 978-0-12-370886-1 
  8. ^ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2006), The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, p. 92 
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