Nicotine is almost universally believed to be the major factor that motivates smoking and impedes cessation. Authorities such as the Surgeon General of the USA and the Royal College of Physicians in the UK have declared that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine. This book is a critique of the nicotine addiction hypothesis, based on a critical review of the research literature that purports to prove that nicotine is as addictive drug. The review is based on a re-examination of more than 700 articles and books on this subject, including animal and human experimental studies, effects of `nicotine replacement therapies', and many other relevant sources. This review concludes that on present evidence, there is every reason to reject the generally accepted theory that nicotine has a major role in cigarette smoking. A critical examination of the criteria for drug addiction demonstrates that none of these criteria is met by nicotine, and that it is much more likely that nicotine in fact limits rather than facilitates smoking.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

Nicotine is almost universally believed to be the major factor that motivates smoking and impedes cessation. Authorities such as the Surgeon General of the USA and the Royal College of Physicians in the UK have declared that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine. This book is a critique of the nicotine addiction hypothesis, based on a critical review of the research literature that purports to prove that nicotine is as addictive drug. The review is based on a re-examination of more than 700 articles and books on this subject, including animal and human experimental studies, effects of `nicotine replacement therapies', and many other relevant sources. This review concludes that on present evidence, there is every reason to reject the generally accepted theory that nicotine has a major role in cigarette smoking. A critical examination of the criteria for drug addiction demonstrates that none of these criteria is met by nicotine, and that it is much more likely that nicotine in fact limits rather than facilitates smoking.

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE ECONOMIST By turns philosophical and darkly comic, an ex-smoker’s meditation on the nature and consequences of his nearly lifelong addiction. Written with the passion of an obsessive, Nicotine addresses a lifelong addiction, from the thrill of the first drag to the perennial last last cigarette. Reflecting on his experiences as a smoker from a young age, Gregor Hens investigates the irreversible effects of nicotine on thought and patterns of behavior. He extends the conversation with other smokers to meditations on Mark Twain and Italo Svevo, the nature of habit, and the validity of hypnosis. With comic insight and meticulous precision, Hens deconstructs every facet of dependency, offering a brilliant analysis of the psychopathology of addiction. This is a book about the physical, emotional, and psychological power of nicotine as not only an addictive drug, but also a gateway to memory, a long trail of streetlights in the rearview mirror of a smoker’s life. Cigarettes are sometimes a solace, sometimes a weakness, but always a witness and companion. This is a meditation, an ode, and a eulogy, one that will be passed hand-to-hand between close friends.

Tobacco use among youth and young adults in any form, including e-cigarettes, is not safe. In recent years, e-cigarette use by youth and young adults has increased at an alarming rate. E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United States. This timely report highlights the rapidly changing patterns of e-cigarette use among youth and young adults, assesses what we know about the health effects of using these products, and describes strategies that tobacco companies use to recruit our nation's youth and young adults to try and continue using e-cigarettes. The report also outlines interventions that can be adopted to minimize the harm these products cause to our nation's youth.E-cigarettes are tobacco products that deliver nicotine. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance, and many of today's youth who are using e-cigarettes could become tomorrow's cigarette smokers. Nicotine exposure can also harm brain development in ways that may affect the health and mental health of our kids.E-cigarette use among youth and young adults is associated with the use of other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes. Because most tobacco use is established during adolescence, actions to prevent our nation's young people from the potential of a lifetime of nicotine addiction are critical.E-cigarette companies appear to be using many of the advertising tactics the tobacco industry used to persuade a new generation of young people to use their products. Companies are promoting their products through television and radio advertisements that use celebrities, sexual content, and claims of independence to glamorize these addictive products and make them appealing to young people.

Negative Affective States and Cognitive Impairments in Nicotine Dependence is the only book of its kind that addresses nicotine use and abuse in the context of negative reinforcement mechanisms. Written and edited by leading investigators in addiction, affective, genetic, and cognitive research, it provides researchers and advanced students with an overview of the clinical bases of these effects, allowing them to fully understand the various underlying dysfunctions that drive nicotine use in different individuals. In addition, this book examines animal models that researchers have utilized to investigate the biological bases of these dysfunctions. The combination of clinical and preclinical approaches to understanding nicotine dependence makes this book an invaluable resource for researchers and practitioners seeking to develop targeted treatments aimed at ameliorating symptoms of nicotine dependence, as well as identifying premorbid differences in affective or cognitive function. - Provides a unique perspective on nicotine dependence that emphasizes negative reinforcement rather than positive reinforcement - Examines psychiatric comorbidities and alleviation of withdrawal states as motivation for continued tobacco use - Includes both clinical and preclinical perspectives - Includes genetic and multi-neurotransmitter perspectives on nicotine use and withdrawal - Emphasizes heterogeneity of underlying reasons for smoking, the need for multiple animal models to understand this heterogeneity, and the expectation of heterogeneous responses to potential treatments, underscoring the need for personalized therapeutics

The fact that tobacco ingestion can affect how people feel and think has been known for millennia, placing the plant among those used spiritually, honori?cally, and habitually (Corti 1931; Wilbert 1987). However, the conclusion that nicotine - counted for many of these psychopharmacological effects did not emerge until the nineteenth century (Langley 1905). This was elegantly described by Lewin in 1931 as follows: “The decisive factor in the effects of tobacco, desired or undesired, is nicotine. . . ”(Lewin 1998). The use of nicotine as a pharmacological probe to und- stand physiological functioning at the dawn of the twentieth century was a landmark in the birth of modern neuropharmacology (Limbird 2004; Halliwell 2007), and led the pioneering researcher John Langley to conclude that there must exist some “- ceptive substance” to explain the diverse actions of various substances, including nicotine, when applied to muscle tissue (Langley 1905). Research on tobacco and nicotine progressed throughout the twentieth century, but much of this was from a general pharmacological and toxicological rather than a psychopharmacological perspective (Larson et al. 1961). There was some attention to the effects related to addiction, such as euphoria (Johnston 1941), tolerance (Lewin 1931), and withdrawal (Finnegan et al. 1945), but outside of research supported by the tobacco industry, addiction and psychopharmacology were not major foci for research (Slade et al. 1995; Hurt and Robertson 1998; Henning?eld et al. 2006; Henning?eld and Hartel 1999; Larson et al. 1961).

This booklet for schools, medical personnel, and parents contains highlights from the 2012 Surgeon General's report on tobacco use among youth and teens (ages 12 through 17) and young adults (ages 18 through 25). The report details the causes and the consequences of tobacco use among youth and young adults by focusing on the social, environmental, advertising, and marketing influences that encourage youth and young adults to initiate and sustain tobacco use. This is the first time tobacco data on young adults as a discrete population have been explored in detail. The report also highlights successful strategies to prevent young people from using tobacco.

Millions of Americans use e-cigarettes. Despite their popularity, little is known about their health effects. Some suggest that e-cigarettes likely confer lower risk compared to combustible tobacco cigarettes, because they do not expose users to toxicants produced through combustion. Proponents of e-cigarette use also tout the potential benefits of e-cigarettes as devices that could help combustible tobacco cigarette smokers to quit and thereby reduce tobacco-related health risks. Others are concerned about the exposure to potentially toxic substances contained in e-cigarette emissions, especially in individuals who have never used tobacco products such as youth and young adults. Given their relatively recent introduction, there has been little time for a scientific body of evidence to develop on the health effects of e-cigarettes. Public Health Consequences of E-Cigarettes reviews and critically assesses the state of the emerging evidence about e-cigarettes and health. This report makes recommendations for the improvement of this research and highlights gaps that are a priority for future research.