Nicotine -- addictive drug or harmless "flavorant"?
Nicotine. It's a colorless to pale yellow, oily liquid with the formula

C₁₀H₁₄N₂.

Nicotine sulfate has been used as an insecticide.

According to an authoritative chemical reference, nicotine has an "acrid burning taste." That could explain why tobacco companies have long touted nicotine as a source of flavor in smoke.

But despite claims to the contrary, some tobacco executives have privately called the chemical addictive.

Anti-tobacco campaigners are convinced that nicotine is addictive. But they say it might not be so bad in and of itself if it were not delivered in a deadly vehicle like cigarette smoke. But by addicting a person to a deadly brew of chemicals, they say, nicotine contributes to 400,000 deaths per year in the United States alone.

Is nicotine addictive in the sense that heroin, cocaine and alcohol are addictive?

The Food and Drug Administration has answered this question in the affirmative, forming the basis for rules restricting marketing and sales of cigarettes to minors. Among other things, these would prohibit tobacco billboards within 1,000 feet of schools, eliminate most cigarette vending machines and require the tobacco companies to foot the bill for an ad campaign warning children against the dangers of smoking. In the proposed rule, the campaign was budgeted at $150-million annually, but a figure was not included in the final rules.

The major tobacco companies denounced the FDA rules as a "power grab", and sued to block their implementation.

Clearly, the answer to whether nicotine is addictive depends on your definition of addiction, or "dependence," which the psychology industry often prefers, since it carries fewer negative connotations. According to the bible for classifying psychiatric disorders (see "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual..." in the bibliography) "The essential feature of Substance Dependence is a cluster of cognitive, behavioral and physiological symptoms indicating that the individual continues use of the substance despite significant substance-related problems" (p. 176). Furthermore, "nicotine dependence and withdrawal can develop with use of all forms of tobacco..." (p. 242).

Hallmarks of addiction
University of Vermont professor John Hughes, an expert on nicotine dependence, says the scientific consensus is that "the core of the issue [over dependence] is the loss of control over use. The drug controls you -- you don't control the drug."

Specifically:

• You're not able to stop using it when you decide to
• You use the drug despite clear evidence that it is harming you
• There are clear withdrawal symptoms (defined) -- including, in the case of nicotine, depressed mood, insomnia, irritability and difficulty concentrating

According to these standards, says Hughes, who is past president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, "there's no doubt that nicotine produces addiction." He also cites anecdotal evidence about the strength of the compulsion for nicotine -- or tobacco smoke containing nicotine. "If you put people in a position where it's hard to get, they will go to great lengths to get cigarettes. From World War II, there are records of starving people trading food for cigarettes in concentration camps."

But is nicotine really addictive in the same way that heroin, cocaine and alcohol are addictive?

There are 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 documents. (Glossary | Bibliography)