For many decades, campaigns to thwart the tobacco industry have been done to lessen the use and harm of their highly addictive product. Over the past several years however, adult porn sites have slowly risen to a point that it is becoming more addictive than nicotine. A recent study conducted by a bunch of researchers from a California university confirms this.
There are several problems in comparing porn and cigarettes. First, cigarettes are cheaper and readily available everywhere. There are more people who smoke cigarettes than they view adult porn sites. However, since porn sites do not generally slowly kill people, non-smoking porn lovers tend to enjoy porn sites for a longer period of time.
Since there are no immediate physiological effects in watching porn, it is very rare that a person would go on a “porn site hiatus”. Cigarette smokers on average tend to temporarily kick the habit once plagued by effects of nicotine such as a sore throat.
Addiction expert Dr. Philip Rassmusstin offered his take on the subject. “Porn sites are more addictive because many people don’t even know that they’re addicted to viewing them. Cigarette smoking is generally perceived as an addictive vice. With that as a given, people smoke under the predetermined notion that they are partaking something that’s addictive. Most of the times, that helps them moderate the habit. With porn, it’s very different, mainly because people already have lowered their guards down upon visiting a particular porn site. This in essence makes them all the more vulnerable to porn addiction.”
With such a unique perspective on porn addiction, Rassmusstin is hard pressed when it comes to suggesting a means of avoiding addiction. “The only thing I can think of is that people should just go cold turkey with porn sites.”
If it is proven that porn sites are indeed more addictive than cigarettes, should there be action taken to discourage people from visiting these sites? “I don’t think there’s anything that can be done about it. Like cigarettes, porn is a problem that we all have to live with. I myself have embraced the addiction, and that is indeed the first step.”
The negative effects of adult porn sites have yet to be fully determined. The researchers are currently trying to determine if these sites are a new problem to be faced or possibly a healthier alternative to smoking.
