smoking
Enable an AI agent to recognise smoking activity, record its current state and pattern, and determine which recording, support or setting-related actions are appropriate.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
Enable an AI agent to recognise smoking activity, record its current state and pattern, and determine which recording, support or setting-related actions are appropriate.
Smoking is the practice of burning a substance - most often dried or cured tobacco leaf - and inhaling the smoke so that nicotine and other pyrolysis products are absorbed through the lungs into the bloodstream.
It can be Classify an account or observation as smoking, a neighbouring activity or unresolved.; Record and update a smoking episode while preserving the evidence for substance, method and state.; Summarise smoking patterns using explicit periods and compatible quantity units.; Identify missing information about shared-space smoke and applicable setting rules.; Offer consent-based tracking or support aligned with an expressed intention to reduce or stop.; Refer questions about diagnosis, treatment or legal interpretation to the relevant model or qualified service..
Distinguishing features
An episode involves intentional smoke drawing; merely holding a cigarette or being near smoke does not establish smoking.
The inhaled or mouth-drawn material comes from combustion; a device name or visible cloud alone does not distinguish smoking from vaping.
Drawing smoke into the mouth can qualify even when lung inhalation is denied or unknown.
The activity concerns human use of smoke, rather than exposing food or materials to smoke.
A single observed episode establishes an event, but does not establish a habitual smoking pattern or dependence.
Scope
+ Intentional drawing of smoke from a burning substance into the mouth or respiratory tract
+ Smoking episode initiation, continuation, interruption and completion
+ Substance, product and delivery method as used during an episode
+ Reported smoking frequency, quantity and changes over a stated period
+ Shared-space smoke release and the presence of other people
+ Expressed smoking-related intentions and constraints on agent assistance
- Food preservation, flavouring and industrial processes called smoking
- Vaping and other aerosol use without combustion
- Manufacture, sale and inventory of smoking products or equipment
- Diagnosis and treatment of dependence or smoking-associated disease
- Population-level tobacco policy and epidemiology
- Accidental smoke inhalation and fire incident management
Characteristics
- Substance used
- Tobacco, cannabis, other specified substance, mixture, unknown Prevents every smoking event from being treated as tobacco use and preserves uncertainty about mixtures.
- Smoking method
- Cigarette, cigar, pipe, waterpipe, rolled product, other specified method, unknown Determines which episode boundaries and quantity measures are meaningful.
- Combustion evidence
- Reported, observed, unresolved, absent Supports the boundary between smoking and other inhalation activities.
- Smoke drawing route
- Mouth only reported, respiratory inhalation reported, route unknown Separates recognition of smoking from unsupported assumptions about inhalation.
- Episode state
- Planned, active, paused, ended, uncertain Distinguishes an intention to smoke from a current or completed event.
- Episode duration
- Minutes, with start and end evidence or an explicit estimate Locates the event in time without assuming that a lit product was used continuously.
- Quantity used
- Product units, fraction of a product, puffs, sessions or mass; preserve the original unit Allows method-appropriate recording without implying that unlike units represent equivalent exposure.
- Smoking frequency
- Episodes or smoking days per explicit observation or recall period Makes occasional and repeated activity distinguishable while exposing gaps in observation.
- Shared-space context
- Episode linked to location, enclosure, nearby people and shared equipment where known Supports assessment of who else may be affected and which setting constraints apply.
- Expressed change intention
- No intention recorded, maintain, reduce, stop, undecided, other stated intention Grounds assistance in the person's stated goal rather than inferring it from smoking status.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 35 questions.
Smoking recognition Establish whether the activity is intentional human smoking and identify what is being smoked.
Visible smoke, product possession and inhalation-device use are insufficient on their own to identify smoking.
Activity boundary
Separate smoking from adjacent activities and passive presence.
Intentional smoke drawing
Record evidence of deliberate drawing of combustion smoke without requiring proof of lung inhalation.
- Is the person intentionally drawing smoke into the mouth or respiratory tract, or only near a smoke source? definition
- What establishes combustion rather than vaping, heating without combustion or another aerosol source? boundary
- Is this classification based on direct observation, self-report or an unresolved inference? provenance
Substance and method
Identify the material and delivery method used in this activity.
Smoked material and delivery
Preserve the reported substance, mixtures and smoking method without inferring contents from appearance.
- What substance or mixture is being smoked, and which components remain unknown? definition
- How were the substance and smoking method identified? provenance
Smoking episode Represent a bounded occurrence of smoking, including pauses and partial consumption.
Lighting, drawing smoke and extinguishing need not coincide, especially for shared or intermittently used products.
Episode timing
Establish when smoking occurred and whether it is still occurring.
Episode boundaries and state
Distinguish the person's activity from the burning state of the product.
- When did smoke drawing begin and end, and are those times observed or estimated? measurement
- Does a pause, relighting or return to a shared waterpipe continue this episode or start another under the chosen convention? boundary
- Is the person currently smoking, paused or finished, and is the product's burning state separately known? measurement
Episode quantity
Record consumption in units suitable for the method and participant.
Participant consumption
Attribute reported use to the person without equating prepared, burned and personally consumed quantities.
- How much did this person use, in what unit, and with what estimation uncertainty? measurement
- Was the product partly used, shared or left burning, making the prepared quantity an unreliable measure of personal consumption? boundary
Smoking pattern Represent smoking across time without turning isolated events into unsupported personal classifications.
An agent must distinguish current episodes, historical use, periods without smoking and missing information.
Frequency and history
Summarise smoking within explicit time windows.
Time-bounded use pattern
Record smoking days, episodes and quantities together with the period and coverage supporting them.
- Over which period were smoking days, episode counts or quantities reported or observed? measurement
- Do intervals without recorded smoking mean reported non-use, observed non-use or missing information? provenance
- Are different substances and smoking methods recorded separately enough to avoid misleading totals? boundary
Pattern transitions
Capture changes in use and their reported context.
Change and resumption
Represent initiation, reduction, stopping and resumed smoking without assuming dependence or a failed intention.
- What change in smoking has been reported, and when did it begin? measurement
- What situations does the person associate with smoking or resuming it, and are these their reports rather than inferred causes? provenance
- Does an episode after a period without smoking alter the recorded pattern, or is further information needed? boundary
Smoke and shared setting Locate smoking in its immediate physical and social surroundings.
Smoking can release smoke beyond the participant, while permission and practical actions depend on the actual setting.
Smoke release context
Record contextual evidence relevant to smoke reaching others.
Nearby people and airspace
Describe enclosure, proximity and smoke release without presenting them as a measured exposure dose.
- Where is smoking occurring, and what is known about enclosure, nearby people and smoke entering adjoining spaces? measurement
- Is exposure supported by a measurement, a report or only the possibility of shared air? provenance
Setting permissions
Connect the episode to verified smoking rules and expressed boundaries.
Applicable smoking constraints
Record relevant rules and interpersonal requests with their source and applicability.
- Which smoking rule or permission applies to this location, substance and time, and what is its source? provenance
- Have nearby people or the person responsible for the space expressed a relevant boundary or request? boundary
- Which response, such as notifying the participant of a verified restriction, is within the agent's authority? action
Smoking-related assistance Determine what assistance is wanted and where this activity model must hand off.
Observed smoking does not establish a wish to change, a diagnosis or permission to disclose personal use.
Intentions and consent
Anchor assistance and record handling in expressed preferences.
Requested smoking support
Record the person's goal and the specific assistance they authorise.
- Has the person expressed a goal to track, reduce, stop or otherwise discuss smoking? action
- Which reminders, summaries or support actions have they requested or accepted? action
- What permission exists to retain or share their smoking record, and with whom? boundary
Specialist handoffs
Separate activity recording from clinical, emergency and legal decisions.
Limits of smoking model decisions
Identify requests or reported circumstances requiring a neighbouring model or qualified service.
- Does the request concern recording smoking, or does it require diagnosis, treatment selection or legal interpretation? boundary
- Do reported symptoms or an active fire concern require handoff to a health or emergency workflow? action
- What minimum smoking context is relevant and authorised to accompany that handoff? action
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- manufactured cigarette smoking
- roll-your-own cigarette smoking
- cigar, cigarillo and little-cigar smoking
- pipe smoking
- waterpipe (hookah, shisha, narghile) smoking
- bidi smoking
- kretek (clove cigarette) smoking
- heated-tobacco-product use (grouped by WHO with smoked tobacco)
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Wikidata - Q662860 - Item smoking: inhaling smoke after burning a substance
- NCI Thesaurus - C154329 - Smoking: puffing and/or inhaling combustion products for taste and bloodstream absorption
- ICD-10 / ICD-10-CM - F17; F17.21* - Nicotine dependence; F17.21 is cigarette-specific. Z72.0 is tobacco use NOS (not dependence); Z87.891 is history of tobacco dependence
- Unicode - U+1F6AC (🚬) - Cigarette symbol used as the topic character on Wikidata
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (World Health Organization, adopted 2003): Articles 8 (protection from tobacco smoke), 9-11 (contents, disclosures, packaging/labelling), 13 (advertising, promotion and sponsorship), 15 (illicit trade), 16 (sales to and by minors)
- Guidelines for implementation of Article 8 (WHO FCTC Conference of the Parties): require elimination of smoking in indoor workplaces, public transport and indoor public places; reject ventilation, filtration and designated smoking rooms as protection
- 26 U.S.C. § 5702 as administered by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau: legal definitions of cigarette, cigar (including the three-pounds-per-thousand small/large cut), pipe tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco
- ICD-10 / ICD-10-CM (WHO; U.S. CDC/CMS): F17 nicotine dependence versus Z72.0 tobacco use NOS, with pregnancy coded to O99.33-
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Habitual or intermittent inhalation of combusted tobacco, overwhelmingly as manufactured cigarettes, recorded in surveys as everyday or someday current use after a lifetime of at least 100 cigarettes
- Social waterpipe (shisha/hookah) sessions in cafés and homes, often flavoured, now common among young people well beyond the Eastern Mediterranean
- Public-health classification of populations into never, former and current smokers, and of dual/poly use with cigars, pipes or e-cigarettes
- Indoor smoking bans covering workplaces, public transport and public places under FCTC Article 8, plus remaining designated rooms or outdoor smoking in jurisdictions that have not adopted 100% smoke-free rules
- Excise and product-definition work (cigarette versus cigar versus pipe versus roll-your-own) that determines tax class and labelling
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- cigarettes smoked per day (among current daily smokers) - most U.S. daily smokers 5-24; ≥25 cigarettes/day about 5% by 2017 NHIS - cigarettes/day
- pack-years (cumulative cigarette dose) - (cigarettes per day ÷ 20) × years smoked; no single typical value - pack-years
- lifetime cigarettes for ever-smoker classification - threshold of 100 - cigarettes
- waterpipe session smoke volume relative to one cigarette - about 100-200 times in a typical hour-long session - cigarette-equivalents of inhaled smoke volume
- nicotine from one unflavoured waterpipe bowl - equivalent of 2-12 cigarettes - cigarette-equivalents
- deaths attributed to tobacco use, including second-hand smoke - >7 million per year globally, of which about 1.2-1.6 million are non-smokers exposed to second-hand smoke - deaths/year
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- No safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke; engineering controls (ventilation, filtration, designated smoking rooms) do not protect non-smokers
- Cancers (including lung and more than 20 other types or subtypes), COPD and cardiovascular disease in the smoker
- Second-hand smoke causing death and disease in non-smokers (WHO: on the order of 1.2-1.6 million deaths per year)
- Nicotine dependence and withdrawal (ICD-10 F17), with particular harm to developing brains in children and adolescents
- Waterpipe smoke retains nicotine, carbon monoxide, metals and carcinogens after passage through water; charcoal or wood used to heat the tobacco adds CO, metals and combustion carcinogens
- Pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium tobacco use treated as a distinct clinical hazard (ICD-10-CM O99.33-)
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Manufactured cigarettes are the dominant smoked product worldwide; about 80% of the world's 1.2 billion tobacco users live in low- and middle-income countries
- Waterpipe smoking is historically Eastern Mediterranean (names include shisha, narghile, hookah, ghalyoon, goza) and is now also global among young people
- Bidis are the traditional hand-rolled smoked product of India and Pakistan (temburni-leaf wrapper); kreteks (clove cigarettes) are characteristic of Indonesia
- Reverse chutta and dhumti smoking (ignited end inside the mouth) is practised in parts of South Asia
- U.S. cigarette markets historically split menthol versus non-menthol (menthol around 30% of current smokers in 2010-2015 NHIS)
- Smoke-free law: FCTC Parties are expected to eliminate indoor smoking, but many jurisdictions still allow designated rooms or outdoor smoking
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- vaping / electronic cigarettes (ENDS) - A battery device heats a liquid to an aerosol; there is no combustion of tobacco leaf. Wikidata treats vaping as different from smoking; WHO still classifies e-cigarettes as harmful nicotine products, not as smoked tobacco.
- smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, dip, nicotine pouches) - The product is held in the mouth, applied to the gums, or sniffed; it is not burned and produces no inhaled smoke. TTB and WHO define these as not intended to be smoked.
- heated tobacco products (HTPs) - Tobacco is heated to an aerosol rather than burned in an open flame or charcoal; WHO still lists HTPs among smoked tobacco products because they contain tobacco and emit toxicants similar to cigarette smoke.
- cigar versus cigarette - TTB: a cigarette is a roll of tobacco wrapped in paper (or a non-tobacco wrapper), or a tobacco-wrapped roll that is offered as a cigarette; a cigar is wrapped in leaf tobacco or a tobacco-containing wrapper. Small/large cigars and cigarettes are cut at three pounds per thousand.
- second-hand (environmental) tobacco smoke exposure - The non-smoker inhales sidestream and exhaled smoke without themselves combusting a product; FCTC Article 8 treats this as a separate protected exposure, not as 'being a smoker'.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of smoking this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Sources
- Tobacco (fact sheet) - World Health Organization - Global harm, product classes, no safe exposure level, second-hand deaths, distinction of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco from combusted cigarettes
- Types of nicotine and tobacco products - World Health Organization - Official split of smoked vs smokeless tobacco vs nicotine products; list of smoked forms including cigarettes, shisha, cigars, bidis, kreteks and heated tobacco
- Types of tobacco use (Chapter 1) - WHO Regional Office for Africa - Specialist definition of tobacco smoking as combustion plus inhalation; cigars, reverse chutta/dhumti, waterpipes, kreteks
- smoking (Q662860) - Wikidata - Canonical item for the act of inhaling combustion smoke; NCI Thesaurus C154329; difference from vaping
- WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control - World Health Organization - Treaty articles governing smoke-free places, product contents, labelling, advertising, illicit trade and sales to minors
- Guidelines on protection from exposure to tobacco smoke (Article 8) - WHO FCTC Conference of the Parties - No safe level of second-hand smoke; 100% smoke-free indoor workplaces, public transport and indoor public places; ventilation and designated rooms judged ineffective
- NHIS Adult Tobacco Use Glossary - U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / NCHS - Operational kinds (current/everyday/someday/former/never), 100-cigarette ever-smoker rule, and smoked-product list (cigarette, cigar, pipe, hookah, bidi)
- Tobacco products - U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau - Statutory definitions that separate cigarettes from cigars by wrapper and the three-pounds-per-thousand weight cut
- Waterpipe tobacco use - World Health Organization - Regional names, session smoke volume versus one cigarette, nicotine equivalence of a bowl, charcoal toxicants not removed by water
What the second pass must settle
- Does the registry identifier denote intentional human smoking broadly, tobacco smoking specifically or another meaning of smoking?
- Does an existing Vercy world model already own this concept, requiring a registry link instead of a separate publication?
- Which episode-boundary conventions should apply across cigarettes, cigars, pipes and shared waterpipe sessions?
- Which sourced definitions should govern current, occasional and former smoking classifications, including their time windows?
- Which method-specific quantity measures support useful comparison, and where must comparisons remain explicitly unsupported?