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national institute on drug abuse
nicotine craving and heavy smoking linked to cocaine and heroin use Research conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has found that nicotine addiction seems to be linked to increased craving for illegal drugs among drug abusers who also smoke tobacco.
These are the findings from 2 studies published in the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. The two studies, said NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner, "add very compelling behavioral evidence to other research that has been conducted which suggests that there are common characteristics and interactions between tobacco use and opiate and cocaine use. They also suggest that quit smoking programs should be offered as part of other drug treatment programs." "One of our more interesting results was that scripts which elicited craving for tobacco also elicited craving for the subject's drug of choice. This suggests that real-world situations that produce tobacco craving may also result in craving for drugs of abuse. |
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One study, led by Dr. Stephen Heishman at NIDA's Intramural Research
Program, examined the interaction of craving for nicotine and other drugs,
using a technique of "cue-induced craving." It involved female and male
adult smokers who had histories of drug abuse and who were not interested in
giving up smoking. In the 1st part of the study, Eighteen subjects were
requested to listen to scripts-recorded descriptions of scenes with pleasant
(watching children on a sunny beach), unpleasant (a friend asking to borrow
money), or neutral (doing household chores) content. At the same time, some
of the scripts showed people expressing a desire to smoke, while other
scripts did not mention smoking. In the 2nd part of the study.
Twenty four subjects listened to scripts with only positive emotional content (enjoying the beach, talking on the phone with an old acquaintance, or visiting friends). These positive scripts included increasingly more detailed descriptions of tobacco craving-from no mention of smoking to asking the question "how could you really enjoy yourself fully unless you were smoking?" After the subjects listened to the scripts they were asked to rate their craving to smoke and their desire to use other drugs. |
The investigators found that the scripts mentioning smoking and the scripts
containing negative emotional content increased the subjects' experiences of
tobacco craving. And, in the 2nd phase of the study, tobacco craving
increased as the intensity of the craving messages in the scripts increased
The subjects included heavy smokers, participants who did not smoke, and
"chippers" who smoked less than Five cigarettes each day. All of the
participants had been in a methadone treatment program for a minimum of
sixteen weeks. The research scientists evaluated the connection between
tobacco smoking and illicit drug use among the smokers and nonsmokers by
using urine and breath samples from the participants over a Seven day
period. The researchers found that the amount of cocaine and heroin use was
directly related to the level of tobacco use. "The more cigarettes smoked,
the more likely the person was to use illegal drugs," Frosch stated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are initiating a new Tobacco-Free Sports public education program at the Paralympic and Olympic Winter Games
Coercive and critical approaches are rarely successful in convincing smokers to quit. These tactics tend to make smokers feel guilty, defensive, inadequate and afraid.
Quitting the smoking habit will help your personal appearance, by reducing bad breath, yellowed teeth and fingernails, premature skin aging and early hair loss.
The government is to provide smoking cessation resources to the 46 million adults in the USA who smoke, we can make an enormous improvement in public health."
Women make up Thirty nine percent of all smoking-related deaths every year in the United States.
Does banning smoking in restaurants present any sort of economic risk? In areas where smoking bans are already in place do people eat out less often, and spend less money in restaurants?
Tips to help you quit smoking.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure or kidney failure. This is why high blood pressure is often called the "silent killer." The only way to tell if you have high blood pressure is to have your blood pressure checked.
Millions of Americans smoke "low-tar," "mild," or "light" cigarettes, believing those cigarettes to be less harmful than other cigarettes. The evidence does not indicate a benefit to public health from changes in cigarette design and manufacturing over the last 50 years.
Vice President for Campus Life, Princeton University, Janet S. Dickerson announced she has accepted recommendations from students to prohibit smoking in undergraduate dorms.
It’s a list of the top 10 health reasons to quit smoking, it’s based in part on what Gay has observed in his years as a lung specialist at the University of Michigan Health System.
Three out of four smokers in the United States say they want to quit, but less than 5% of smokers who quit for at least a day are able to stay tobacco-free for three to 12 months.
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Make no mistake about it: high blood pressure is dangerous. It is the number one modifiable cause of stroke. The higher the blood pressure, the greater is the chance for heart attack, heart failure, stroke and kidney disease.
Smokers should not believe that the tar and nicotine levels listed on a pack of cigarettes are what they are actually inhaling. The take-home message of this report is that the only proven way to reduce the disease risks associated with smoking is to quit.
Regular exercise prevents obesity, slows the clotting rate of the blood and reduces stress. All of these things help to prevent artery disease, or atherosclerosis.