Social Smokers
Only at Weekends?
Social smokers are an interesting phenomenon. They occasionally partake in an activity that is highly addictive and appear to be non-addicted. Or are they just deluding themselves? Scientists and Doctors, who like to classify things, define social smokers as those who smoke less than one cigarette a day or smokers who don’t smoke every day. Of course it is difficult to define complex human behaviours in such simple and broad terms, so let’s try a different approach for defining the ‘Social Smoker’.
Only Two Types?
I suppose social smokers come in two flavours and most of us will be able to recognise these types amongst our family, friends and acquaintances. The first group are those who smoke at social gatherings. They never buy or have a packet of cigarettes of their own and bum the occasional cigarette from the hardened smokers. They usually don’t smoke during the day; in fact they may not smoke for a long time only to take up the habit at the next family event. This type of smoker is a rare beast indeed. The second group is much more common. They buy their own cigarettes and tend to smoke, although this is not exclusively true, when they are out socialising; perhaps they smoke only when they drink alcohol. They don’t smoke every day and often confine their habit to weekends.
Are They Addicted?
It estimated that approximately 10% of smokers can be classified as social smokers. Some may not be true social smokers in the strict sense of the definition and may be just passing through this phase on their way to smoking 20 a day. True social smokers seem to be able to walk the thin line between non-addiction and dependency. However, research indicates that 80% of the second category of social smoker finds it difficult to completely give up. By anyone’s definition this is addiction. What is it about the social smoker that allows them to smoke occasionally? They tend to be young and well educated. They are well aware of the risks of smoking and may use their smoking as a ‘social lubricant’. Genetics may also be factor. Genetics is known to influence how we respond to nicotine and governs, to a certain extent, the relative difficultly we experience when we try to give up.
The Health Risks and the Social Smoker
It comes as no surprise that little research has been exclusively conducted on social smokers especially in the realm of health. Research on smokers, as a group, indicates that the risk of cancer is dose dependant. That is the more cigarettes you smoke the greater the risk. Surprisingly, the relationship between heart disease and smoking is not so simple. It appears that the greatest risk of a cardiac episode follows after smoking just a few cigarettes. This confounds what we would think as common sense, but it would explain why non-smoking spouses of smokers are at a significantly higher risk of a heart attack even though they consume only about 1% of the smoke of their smoking partners.
If you are going to smoke then it is better to be an occasional smoker than smoking 20 a day. The health risks are lower than that experienced by regular smokers, but the risks are still significant. If you only smoke a few cigarettes a month then you might want to think about the benefits of giving it up altogether. When you come to that stage you will find out whether you are really a true addict, just like the rest of the smoking pack.
