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least regular, repetitive and compulsive (habitual) , and that it 

 is engaged in to achieve a range of effects, including the 

 suppression of withdrawal symptoms (headache in the case of 

 caffeine) . However, the analogy should not be pushed too far. 

 It by no means "proves" that nicotine is not addictive. 



• An expert group reviewed the clinical and basic science 

 literature on caffeine and concluded that, while it 

 would be important to include the diagnosis "caffeine 

 withdrawal" in standard classifications ( DSM IV and I CD 

 10 ) , the data did not support the inclusion of a rubric 

 for "caffeine dependence, " that is, for addiction to 

 caffeine. (Hughes et al, 1992) In contrast, the DSM 

 has had a diagnostic category for tobacco dependence or 

 nicotine dependence since 1980. 



• The potential occurrence of harmful consequences 

 because of drug use is an important clinical criterion 

 for addiction. Harm consequent to use is a major 

 problem with nicotine but not with caffeine. 



• There are virtually no systematic data on how difficult 

 it is to stop caffeine use, while there are abundant 

 data on the difficulty people encounter in becoming 

 abstinent from nicotineL.. Stopping smoking is often 

 very difficult to do. Decaf coffees and sodas are 

 popular, but denicotinized tobacco products are not. 



More than two- thirds of people who smoke cigarettes want to 

 stop but find this a difficult thing to do. There is no evidence 



