Nicotine

Nicotine

Nicotine addiction can be considered a pediatric disease because 9 out of 10 smokers or spit tobacco users become addicted as children. The tremendous capacity of nicotine to addict youth cannot be underestimated.

If a person experiments with alcohol there is a 1 in 10 chance of becoming an alcoholic. With heroin and cocaine the odds for addiction go up to 1 in 6. For first time nicotine users addiction occurs as frequently as 1 in 2 and the younger a person first smokes or dips those odds go up to 9 out of 10. Nicotine changes the chemical structure and function of the brain.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) characterizes addiction as, “compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative health consequences.

“Research has shown how nicotine acts on the brain to produce a number of effects. Of primary importance to its addictive nature are findings that nicotine activates reward pathways—the brain circuitry that regulates feelings of pleasure. A key brain chemical involved in mediating the desire to consume drugs is the neurotransmitter dopamine, and research has shown that nicotine increases levels of dopamine in the reward circuits. This reaction is similar to that seen with other drugs of abuse, and is thought to underlie the pleasurable sensations experienced by many smokers”. NIDA 2007

The tobacco cartel continues to disregard scientific consensus regarding nicotine addiction. A bizarre twist of the industry funded smokers' rights claim is that nicotine addiction is somehow essential to personal liberty, yet those profiting from nicotine addiction are not culpable. No other purveyor of an addictive substance is treated with such deference. The irony is further complicated by the body count from tobacco dwarfing all other causes of death. A disturbing trend in pro tobacco circles is to discuss reducing the toxicity of nicotine delivery rather than reducing tobacco's prevalence. This strategy is designed to maintain nicotine addiction, and the tobacco cartel's profit, as the status quo.