Understanding how nicotine addiction
effects your employees

With over thirty years of research documenting evidence that smoking is harmful to health and that quitting smoking can increase life expectancy through avoiding disease, why don't smokers quit on their own?  Usually, because they are addicted to nicotine.  Nicotine is more addictive than heroin, and kicking the habit can be a serious challenge to any individual.  When deprived of nicotine, withdrawal symptoms can occur in less than 24 hours.  Some of these symptoms may disappear within a few weeks, but the craving and physical urge to smoke can remain for years.  Making it successfully through quitting can be a difficult task, and most smokers require several quit attempts to successfully quit for the long-term.  Be aware of how nicotine addiction can effect your smoking employees, and do your best to offer support to your employees quitting efforts.

Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal

Reference:

1.         Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Office on Smoking and Health, USDHHS, Wellness Council of America, American Cancer Society. Making your workplace smokefree: A decision maker's guide 1996.

This page was last updated on May 28, 2003. Copyright © 2003 Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, NC Department of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved. Click here for disclaimer.