Addiction

Getting hooked is easier than you think.

Nicotine is a chemical in tobacco. And the nicotine in tobacco is a powerful drug. It turns on the part of your brain that controls pleasure and releases chemicals that increase your desire for more.
Cigarettes are a very good drug-delivery system. When you inhale, high levels of nicotine go right to your brain in about 10 seconds. But these levels begin to drop in a few minutes, so you have to keep smoking throughout the day to get the good feeling nicotine gives you. That’s called withdrawal.
A lot of smokers say that smoking makes them feel better. Well, not really. It just keep them from feeling bad and it keeps them from feeling the withdrawal pains.
A typical smoker takes 10 puffs on a cigarette in the 5 minutes that the cigarette is lit. A person who smokes about 1 pack (20 cigarettes) daily, gets 200 "hits" of nicotine to the brain each day.