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Addicted smokers experience nicotine withdrawal anytime they go too long without smoking. Withdrawal presents as a continuum of symptoms of escalating severity described by smokers as “wanting,” then “craving,” and eventually “needing” to smoke. These may be followed by irritability, impatience, moodiness, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, and sleep disturbances. This spectrum of intensifying withdrawal symptoms creates a compulsion to smoke that makes quitting difficult. The compulsion to smoke is the core feature of nicotine addiction accounting for its clinical course, physiological characteristics, prognosis, and behavioral manifestations. A compulsion can develop quickly, having been experienced by one third of youth who have smoked only 3 or 4 cigarettes. Its physiologic basis is evident in neurophysiological measures and its recurrence after each cigarette at a characteristic interval. At first, a single cigarette can keep withdrawal at bay for weeks, but as addiction progresses, cigarettes must be smoked at progressively shorter intervals to suppress withdrawal symptoms. The physiologic need to repeatedly self-administer nicotine at shorter intervals explains a full spectrum of addictive symptoms ranging from the prodromal symptom of wanting, to chain smoking. The early process of nicotine addiction is recognized if a person experiences regular wanting for a cigarette. When symptoms include craving or needing, the now addicted patient is experiencing a compulsion to smoke. This simple diagnostic approach covers the full spectrum of addiction in smokers of all ages and levels of tobacco use, and is more valid than a clinical diagnosis based on the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a dose-response relation exists between the number of cigarette promotional items (CPIs) owned by an adolescent, and smoking behaviour. DESIGN AND SETTING: Voluntary, self administered survey of 1265 sixth through to 12th grade students (ages 10-19 years), representing 79-95% of all students attending five rural New Hampshire and Vermont public (state funded) schools in October 1996. The association between the number of CPIs owned by students and smoking behaviour was examined using multivariate regression methods. OUTCOME MEASURES: Adjusted odds of being a smoker (>/= 100 cigarettes lifetime) and, among never and experimental smokers, adjusted cumulative odds of having higher levels on a smoking uptake index given the number of CPIs owned. RESULTS: One third of students owned a CPI (n = 406). Among owners, 211 owned one, 82 owned two, 57 owned three, 24 owned four, 23 owned five, and 7 students owned six CPIs. The number of CPIs owned by students was not associated with grade in school but was significantly higher in males, those with poorer school performance, those who perceived high prevalence of peer smoking, and those with higher exposure to peer and family smoking. The more items a student owned, the greater the chances of being a smoker. For example, smoking prevalence was 11.2% for those not owning a CPI, 41.5% for those owning two, 58.5% for those owning four, and 71.4% for those owning six CPIs. The dose-response relation remained after controlling for confounding; compared with those who did not own a CPI, the likelihood of being a smoker was significantly higher for those who owned one CPI, with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 2.7 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7 to 4.1); OR was 3.4 (95% CI 1.9 to 5.9) for those owning two CPIs, and 8.4 (95% CI 5.0 to 14.2) for those owning three or more CPIs. After excluding smokers, there was a crude dose-response association between CPI ownership and higher rates of experimentation with cigarettes among sixth to ninth graders (ages 11-15 years) only (n = 543). After controlling for confounding influences, the dose-response relation remained, with the likelihood of being higher on the smoking uptake index rising with the number of CPIs owned: one CPI, adjusted cumulative OR 1.7 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.60); two CPIs, OR 2.5 (95% CI 1.2 to 5.1); and three or more CPIs, OR 4.8 (95% CI 1.9 to 12.2). CONCLUSIONS: This study offers evidence of a dose-response relation between the number of CPIs owned by adolescents and higher likelihood of experimental and established smoking. The dose-response relation persists after controlling for confounding influences. These data provide further support of a causal relation between tobacco promotional campaigns and smoking behaviour among adolescents.