"Very soon after that first cigarette, adolescents can experience a loss of autonomy over tobacco," warns researcher Joseph R. DiFranza, discussing a study he conducted on youth smoking and nicotine addiction, the New York Times reported Feb. 12.

DiFranza, a family health and community medicine specialist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, said that young smokers can get addicted to nicotine the first time they smoke, elaborating on research published in the December 2007 issue of The Journal of Family Practice.

The study found that up to 30 percent of youths suffered a loss of autonomy over smoking from the first time they puffed a cigarette. "We have long assumed that kids got addicted because they were smoking 5 or 10 cigarettes a day," said DiFranza. "Now we know that they risk addiction after trying a cigarette just once."

DiFranza said that teens and adults seem to develop "dependence-related tolerance" -- how long you can go between cigarettes before getting the urge to smoke again -- quite differently. "The typical adult smoker begins to crave the next cigarette in 45 minutes to an hour after smoking," he said. "But kids can be addicted and not need to smoke again for days, even weeks."

"The take-home message: It only takes a day for the brain to remodel itself in response to one dose of nicotine," according to DiFranza. "About one-quarter of young people experience a sensation of relaxation the first time they inhale from a cigarette, and this sensation predicts continued smoking."