[From nicotine dependence to addictology].

The concept of addiction has developed in France since the beginning of the 2000s. It has justified by common clinical aspects, high level of co-morbidities between addictions to psychoactive drugs, common cognitive and behavioral mechanisms, the impact of comparable psychological and genetic factors, the same neurobiological mechanisms and the same therapy options in many cases. Although some specificities remain in smoking management: absence of intoxication and abuse diagnosis in DSM-IV, less consensual politics of harm reduction, and own pharmacotherapy solutions. Despite what is commonly thought, tobacco is the most addictive amongst all psycho-active-substances in Western countries.