Sociology of Smoking

Nicotine control: e-cigarettes, smoking and addiction

by Kirsten Bell

Co-authored with Helen Keane and published in International Journal of Drug Policy

Over the past year or so, electronic cigarettes, more commonly known as 'e-cigarettes', have achieved widespread... more Over the past year or so, electronic cigarettes, more commonly known as 'e-cigarettes', have achieved widespread visibility and growing popularity. These products, which deliver nicotine via an inhaled mist, have caused no small amount of controversy in public health circles, and their rise has been accompanied by energetic debate about their potential harms and benefits. Interspersed with an analysis of current media coverage on e-cigarettes and the response of mainstream tobacco control and public health to these devices, this article examines the emergence of nicotine as both as an 'addiction' and a treatment for addiction. We argue that by delivering nicotine in way that resembles the visual spectacle and bodily pleasures of smoking, but without the harms of combustible tobacco, e-cigarettes highlight the complex status of nicotine as both a poison and remedy in contemporary public health and tobacco control. In consequence, they jeopardize the carefully drawn distinctions between 'good' and bad' forms of nicotine.

Catherine Ferland, «Mémoires tabagiques. L'usage du tabac, du XVe siècle à nos jours» (Drogues, santé et société, 2007)

by Catherine Ferland

Lamoure J., Stovel J. Varenicline and Suicidal Ideations. How Common is It?. Cdn J of CME 2012; 24(2): 14

by Dr. Joel Lamoure

Lamoure J., Stovel J. Varenicline and Suicidal Ideations. How Common is It?. Cdn J of CME 2012; 24(2): 14
Dr Joel Lamoure

In Canada, varenicline is currently indicated for smoking cessation in conjunction with counselling.1 There have been... more In Canada, varenicline is currently indicated for smoking cessation in conjunction with counselling.1 There have been numerous reports of increased suicidal ideation in patients taking varenicline, and in patients that are quitting smok- ing. This has resulted in the Health Canada Advisory warning health- care providers about the increased risk of serious neuropsychiatric adverse events in those patients taking varenicline. Specifically, depressed mood, agitation, hostili- ty, changes in behaviour, suicidal ideation and suicide, as well as worsening of pre-existing psychi- atric illness have been observed.2 This scenario is very reminiscent for me of the mid 1980’s when fluoxe- tine was first launched in the USA.

Incidental exposure to no-smoking signs primes craving for cigarettes

by Brian Earp

Earp, B. D., Dill, B., Harris, J., Ackerman, J., and Bargh, J. (2011). Incidental exposure to no-smoking signs primes craving for cigarettes: An ironic effect of unconscious semantic processing? Yale Review of Undergraduate Research in Psychology, Vol 2, No 1, 12-23.

The present study tests whether incidental exposure to no-smoking signs may ironically boost craving for cigarettes in... more The present study tests whether incidental exposure to no-smoking signs may ironically boost craving for cigarettes in smokers. Smokers viewed photographs in which no-smoking signs were either incon- spicuously embedded (prime) or edited out (control). Participants then used a joystick to make quick approach vs. avoid motions while viewing smoking-related and neutral stimuli on a computer screen (Chen & Bargh, 1999). We hypothesized that primed smokers, but not controls, would show an automatic reach bias toward the smoking-related stimuli. The data supported our prediction. Possible mechanisms for the effect are discussed, as well as implications for public health policy, negation-based social campaigns in general, and our understanding of the unconscious processing of semantic information.

Mating effort as a predictor of smoking in a college sample

by Daniel Nelson Jones

Burrows, R. and Nettleton, S. ‘Going Against the Grain: Smoking and “Heavy” Drinking Amongst the British Middle Classes’, Sociology of Health and Illness, 17, 5, 668-680, 1995

by Roger Burrows

Burrows, R. and Nettleton, S. ‘Going Against the Grain: Smoking and “Heavy” Drinking Amongst the British Middle Classes’, Sociology of Health and Illness, 17, 5, 668-680, 1995

by Roger Burrows

Becoming a ‘real’ smoker: cultural capital in young women's accounts of smoking and other substance use

by Rebecca Haines-Saah

2009
(With Blake Poland & Joy Johnson)

This paper draws from a qualitative study of tobacco use by young women in Toronto, Canada. Narrative interviews were... more This paper draws from a qualitative study of tobacco use by young women in Toronto, Canada. Narrative interviews were used to understand the multiple roles and functions of smoking within the everyday lives of female adolescents. Guided by a Bourdieusian theoretical framework this study employed the core construct of cultural capital in order to position tobacco and other substance use as field-specific capital that young women accumulate while navigating the social worlds of adolescence. Departing from the psychosocial or peer-influence models that inform the majority of tobacco research with young people, this analysis provides a nuanced understanding of how smoking, drinking, using drugs are much more than simple forms of teenage experimentation or rebellion, but can also serve as key resources for defining the self, acquiring status and making social distinctions within adolescent social worlds. In this context it is also argued that initiation into substance use practices is a way that young women demonstrate and develop social and cultural competencies.

Rebellion, modernity, and romance:: Smoking as a gendered practice in popular young women's magazines, britain 1918-1939

by Penny Tinkler

Refinement and Respectable Consumption: the acceptable face of women's smoking in Britain, 1918–1970

by Penny Tinkler

'red tips for hot lips': advertising cigarettes for young women in Britain, 1920-70

by Penny Tinkler

Smoke signals: women, smoking and visual culture in Britain

by Penny Tinkler