Many folks would say that smoke-a-holic is a nice euphemism that should not be compared to what they consider degrading syndromes. On the contrary side to this belief, nicotine addiction can be just as deadly and bad as any of these conditions. If we would add up the number of people that die each year due to these other conditions combined, they would not add up to the number of premature deaths attributed to smoking cigarettes.
The nicotine withdrawal syndrome is well documented and already established fact for many years now. Not very long ago, the idea of nicotine being a highly physiologically-addictive substance was quite controversial in the medical community all over the world. In fact, for any substance to be considered addictive, it has to meet certain criteria. The main criteria: the drug has to be capable of inducing physical withdrawal during cessation.

Additionally, any individual will build up tolerance to the drug during its use. Often times, what happens with any type of drug, including nicotine is that an increased dose is necessary to get identical effects. The same goes for nicotine, heroine or cocaine, there isn't much difference when it comes down to tolerance. All cigarette smokers experience this phenomenon as their cigarette consumption gradually increases from what probably was an occasional habit to a required daily consumption of one or more packs. There is no doubts: The nicotine tolerance can build up in time and sometimes a smoker may need up five or six packs of cigarettes a day hence the withdrawal symptoms will be more intense.

Another criterion is that any addictive substance should be a totally consuming necessity, often resulting in an anti-social behavior. We have many anti-social behaviors as an example and smoking cigarettes is largely becoming one of them: snuff (dry inhaling tobacco) or chewing tobacco are also considered anti-social. Many have argued that cigarette smoking fails to fulfill this requirement. Most smokers if not all, never resort to deviant behaviors to maintain their dependency, and this is because it's easy to obtain the full complement of cigarettes that they need to satisfy their addiction unlike heroine or other drugs that are insanely expensive.

The nicotine addiction is a real and painful fact. Numerous smokers even admit that they have been searching in ashtrays, garbage cans or even gutters looking for butts which may still have a salvageable value for just a few puffs when they're off cigarettes due to carelessness or unforeseen circumstances. They also admit that it is a disgusting thing to do but many realize that if they were currently smoking and again caught in a similar predicament, they would be fully capable of repeating the repulsive incident.

Without any doubts. Nicotine is highly addictive. Nicotine is a drug just like any other drugs and one of the most dangerous. It can also be a killer if it's not stopped early. Consider this when your mind flies cigarette. Only one puff can reinforce the addiction, you just don't need another cigarette, you only think you do.