This is one of those necessary conversations around here, one that I hate, personally, but here it is.
I have and always will point out that "addiction culture" is set up on an amount of fear and guilt brought on by perceptions of damage and: get this--pleasure.
ANYTHING can be addictive. Chemical, psychological, etc. There's a very blurred line, made on purpose, by psychologists and "addiction culture" proponents (usually well-meaning 12-steppers, sometimes the government, advocacy groups, etc) not as to what is addictive, but why...and that's lumping the good with the bad, right there: sometimes people need help away from something when it consumes them, but the fallout can have unintended consequences.
However, consuming something is not the same as it consuming the consumer. There's people with reasonable alcohol, nicotine, marijuana and probably other drugs. Why you don't see or hear about those people? It's because they aren't sensational. How many normal people take drugs or seek a "high?" Probably a vast majority, in some fashion. Exercise or adrenaline-rush lifestyles included. We don't see these people as "addicts" because there's no show to put on. A rich billionaire on cocaine and in and out of rehab is actually appealing to some for the same reason, opposite results. In the end, normalcy doesn't help promote a cause or a notion of someone's, and it certainly doesn't make people money down the road (mainly government and special interest). Nobody's wowed by a "normie." We want to be sold death, skid row, and trashed lives--because even being rescued can be addictive.
That said, purge the guilt if anyone reading this has it. Admit your like nicotine, not that you are "an addict." Admit you like booze, not that you're "an alcoholic." This isn't denial, and it isn't putting you in a category of pre-guilt, because the real addiction is being bad, and well--having a label: addiction.
Furthermore, nicotine by itself isn't nearly as chemically addictive without additives, hence, cigarettes. Yes, it is addictive, because it is a slight psychoactive substance. So is caffeine. So is alcohol. So is pot. People just eat, drink and smoke sh*t, because it feels good. As for health effects? I'll bring up the fact I have severe allergies and asthma. You know what made it better? SMOKE. It toughened up my nasal passages and I don't have rhinitis nearly as much. The small amount of smoke I do inhale (ala PeeB's notion) I've attributed to actually HELPING my lungs...they apparently needed a little resistance to improve. Our bodies were designed to accept a little adversity in our environments, and I've often thought sterility in living space causes more harm than good--just a theory. How about mental states? PeeB mentions ADD or whatever, I have some flavor of ASD, and another Brother has Tourette. I've heard stories about all three of those being helped by nicotine, and from my vantage point, it does help. So yeah, you could say I seek nicotine out: and the gentle, mellow feel I get from it is just a bonus. Eyes wide open.
Excess in anything is never good--guilt absolutely included. It isn't going to interfere with my piping, unless there's a reason to stop. I quit cigarettes when I saw what they were doing, but pipes have improved my life. Even my doctor says, "If it's working, keep it up."
Addiction is real, and it's also just a word. No one can escape it I guess, so eff it. Life's too short.
8)
ig: