Addiction to nicotine is usually established in young smokers within about a year of first experimenting with cigarettes – in many cases, before reaching the age at which it is legal to buy cigarettes.

• Seventy-five percent of the cigarette smokers reported at least one of the four symptoms of addiction, as compared to 29% of cocaine users, 23% of marijuana users, and 14% of alcohol users
• At least one symptom of addiction was reported by 91% of daily cigarette smokers, as compared to 79% of daily cocaine users, 58% of daily marijuana users, and 48% of daily alcohol users
• Smokers between the ages of 12 and 17 reported symptoms of addiction at lower rates of cigarette consumption than older smokers did. More than one-quarter of 12- to 17-year-olds who smoked one to five cigarettes per day had symptoms of addiction, and so did about 12 percent of those who were less-than-daily smokers

The average smoker takes about 10 puffs on every cigarette, and nicotine levels in the brain peak within 10 seconds of inhaling. Since the satisfaction one gains from smoking lasts only a few minutes, smokers soon crave another cigarette. If one cigarette supplies approximately 10 surges of nicotine to the brain, smoking 1½ packs of cigarettes a day provides a smoker with approximately 300 nicotine hits.

There are some extreme statistics like 90 % of smokers are addicted and that a person who smokes 4 cigarettes is not likely to quit until he/she smokes 400,000 more.

As for how many cigarettes, for some people they will never be addicted, they can be ‘chippers’ or social smokers, they can smoke or not, it doesn’t bother them.

For the rest of us, 3-5 cigarettes is enough to get us addicted and craving for more.

More Information:

Nicotine Addiction
Nicotine Addiction to Disease: Growing Up With the Tobacco Industry