TOBACCO AND ADDICTION By Gregory DuBois

How the brain responds to nicotine When tobacco is smoked nicotine is absorbed through the lungs and reaches the brain in roughly 8 seconds. Nicotine closely resembles the neurotransmitter Acetycholine, it then attaches to the neurotransmitter Acetycholine in the brain which controls muscle movement, breathing, heart rate and memory. Nicotine also causes the release of dopamine and norpinephrine molecules into the brain synapse causing a rewarding, pleasing feeling thus developing a dependency to the drug along with a addiction to the euphoria involved.

The acute affects of nicotine. Decreased appetite Increased heart rate Increased blood pressure Increased respitory functions Sense of well being, satisfaction ect.

Long term affects of smoking Chronic lung disease Coronary heart disease Cancer of the lungs, mouth, larynx, esophagus and bladder. Chronic Phlegm Weakened immune systems Stained teeth Shortness of breath, decrease in athletic abilities. Infant health disorders in pregnant women.

What cause’s underage teens to start smoking. Peer pressure from friends The feeling of being old, grown up Influenced by family members Curiosity Stress relief Location, where you grow up.

Forms of tobacco Cigarettes are most common, the drug is wrapped in a paper fitted with a filter. Cigars are tobacco that is wrapped in tobacco leaves rather than paper, usually larger than cigarettes Chewing tobacco is placed in between the inner lip and gums and nicotine is then absorbed through both. Sisha is tobacco used to be smoked out of a water pipe called a hookah Snus much like chewing tobacco however it comes in a pouch rather than loose tobacco being placed inbetween the gums and inner lip Snuff very fine tobacco that is snorted Patches go directly on the skin and nicotine is passed through the thin skin membrane into the blood stream.

Hookahs Americas youth is becoming ever more interested in smoking tobacco out of hookahs. Hookahs use a special flavored tobacco called sisha. Young people believe hookah is a safer way to smoke tobacco because the smoke passes through water and is not as harsh and tastes better than cigarettes. When really hookah sessions and far worse for the human body than smoking a traditional cigarette. Researches say that a hookah session lasting minutes equates to the same as smoking over 100 cigarettes in that time frame.

Smoking Facts China is home to 300 million smokers who consume 1.7 trillion cigarettes a year, or 3 million cigarettes in a minute. Every 8 seconds on average someone is dying from tobacco related illness. Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals Nearly 4,000 underage teens a day try their first cigarette, over 1,500 of them will become regular users. 90% of smokers started before the legal age of 18/19. The number of young americans who smoke out number adult smokers. There are nearly 71 million underage smokers in the US. 4 out of 5 adults will say that they wish the never had started, 8 out of 10 smokers admitted to trying to quit but failed.

Second And Third Hand Smoking Second hand smoke is defined as the smoke that is exhaled from smokers and left to linger in the air for others to inhale. Second hand smoke has been proven to give even healthy non- smokers cancer and cause birth defects in pregnant women. There is such thing as third hand smoke as well and that is defined as smoke particles that cling to clothing, cushions or carpeting. It is said that when infants are crawling around on the floor are being exposed to the harmful smoke particles that have settled in the carpet.

Once someone is addicted to tobacco the odds of being able to quit go down. And depending on how long they have been smoking, people who have smoke for 5 years is going to have a harder time quitting than someone who has only smoke for a year. Fewer than 50% of teens are able to quit after they become addicted, 90% of all smokers started in their teenage years.

All tobacco companies run slogan campaigns for their tobacco products, most these slogans are deigned to interest young people in America, this is because a huge portion of their market income is coming from the underage smokers. They convey their products through television, movies/celebritys and basic advertising.

Why is it so hard to quit? Like all other hardcore drugs, once your addicted to the substance and then that substance gets taken away, the user suffers from withdrawal symptoms. Tobaccos withdrawal symptoms include increase of appetite, insomnia, restlessness, depression, mood swings, chronic phlegm, headaches, concentration problems, dry mouth and weight gain are just some that come along with the addiction and the effects of coming off the addiction. With cigarettes these symptoms can last up to a year thus making it so easy for people to relapse and smoke tobacco again.