Smoking Cigarettes Affects Brain Like Heroin

[conjur]

http://content.health.msn.com/...96/103554.htm?GT1=5706

Oct. 27, 2004 -- Just like heroin and morphine, smoking cigarettes triggers the release of addictive "feel-good" brain chemicals, new research shows.

The finding helps researchers understand why smokers have such a tough time quitting despite all the health dangers. They presented their report at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held this week in San Diego.

It's the first human study to show that smoking cigarettes stimulates the brain's production of chemicals called opioids. The opioids are known to play a role in soothing pain, increasing positive emotions, and creating a sense of reward. Both morphine and heroin trigger this same chemical flow.

The new study also confirms previous findings -- from animal studies -- that smoking cigarettes affects the flow of another feel-good brain chemical called dopamine. Researchers are now investigating the interaction between the two chemicals in the brains of smokers and nonsmokers.

"It appears that smokers have an altered opioid flow all the time, when compared with non-smokers, and that smoking a cigarette further alters that flow by 20 to 30 percent in regions of the brain important to emotions and craving," says lead researcher David J. Scott, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in a news release.

Smoking Cigarettes During Brain Scans

Scott's research team spent several years testing a way of using PET imaging (positive emission tomography) to study the opioid system in the brain. The scans don't show the flow of opioids directly, but they do show opioid receptor activity in the brain.

Morphine and heroin are among the drugs that bind to these receptors.

The University of Michigan researchers have also created a system that allows someone to smoke cigarettes while lying in the PET scanner having his or her brain scanned.

That's how they conducted this new study, which involved six healthy men who smoked one pack per day. All refrained from smoking cigarettes for at least 10 hours before the study began. During their brain scans, each first smoked a cigarette almost devoid of nicotine, and then smoked a regular cigarette.

Researchers also asked the men to rate their feelings at various times during the study, including before and after smoking cigarettes.

Significant differences in the flow of opioids were seen when the smoker smoked low-nicotine versus high-nicotine cigarettes.

While the men smoked low-nicotine cigarettes, their brains started to show changes in opioid flow. But as soon as they smoked regular cigarettes, opioid levels increased significantly in the brain area involved in emotion and emotion-memory processing, Scott reports.

However, other brain regions were 20% to 30% less active -- the areas involved in memory, emotion, and pleasure. This matched the men's feelings at the time: They reported feeling more relaxed, less alert, less nervous, and having fewer cravings than before smoking cigarettes.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Personally, I still think the tobacco companies are getting off too easily. And people like Dr. Jeffrey Wigand get screwed by trying to uncover the truth about the tobacco companies' attempts to make cigarettes more addictive.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Checking out the fine frame on an object of one's affections releases "feel good" chemicals in the brain as well. So if you are smoking AND tail-watching at the same time, be sure not to OD.

 

[0marTheZealot]

Just about any pleasurable activity causes dopamine to be released in those parts of the brain. That's why we usually repeat actions that are pleasurable; the only real difference here is degree. Some activities produce more dopamine than others and it depends on the individual genetics of each person.

 

[conjur]

Philip Morris Hid Link to Research Facility -Study
http://story.news.yahoo.com/ne...s_nm/health_smoking_dc

LONDON (Reuters) - Philip Morris, one of the world's leading tobacco manufacturers, was involved in research into the health effects of smoking 30 years ago but did not reveal data on the dangers of passive smoking, scientists said on Thursday.

Although the tobacco industry claimed for many years that it was not aware of the toxic effects of cigarettes, the researchers said material from internal industry documents revealed Philip Morris used a German research facility to study the health impact of smoking from the early 1970s.

"Arrangements were made to conceal the process, not only from the wider public, but also from many within Philip Morris, although some senior executives did know," said Martin McKee, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, in research published online by The Lancet medical journal.

But New York-based Altria Group Inc, the parent company of Philip Morris, said the allegations in the journal were not new and had been made in many of the product-liability lawsuits filed against Philip Morris.

"We have successfully defended against them," said John Wunderli, a lawyer for Altria.

McKee told Reuters that although the company has said for a long time that the evidence on the harmful effect of passive smoking is debatable, they had been undertaking research that showed second-hand smoke is dangerous.

The scientists at the German facility only reported some of their findings, he added.

"In particular, the unpublished reports provided evidence that second-hand smoke is even more harmful than mainstream smoke, a finding of particular relevance given the industry's continuing denial of the harmful effects of passive smoking," McKee and Swiss colleagues said in the journal.

Health experts and anti-smoking groups have urged Britain to follow the example of Ireland which has banned smoking in enclosed public work places.

The researchers said the company should explain its involvement in the German research facility and what it knows about passive smoking.

"Given the continuing debate about the way governments should respond to calls for a ban on smoking in public places, we have published this work early online to inform that discussion as a matter of urgency," Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, said in an editorial.

"The research conducted in that facility appears to have been selectively reported in order to favorably shape public impressions about the safety of passive smoking."

And to think Dr. Wigand had to sacrifice his lifestyle and his marriage to help uncover the secrecy and deception waged by the cigarette industry.

 

[Kibbo]

Old news.

But the actions of the Tobbacco companies to conceal all this were despicable.

 

[lordtyranus]

Originally posted by: conjur
http://content.health.msn.com/...96/103554.htm?GT1=5706

Oct. 27, 2004 -- Just like heroin and morphine, smoking cigarettes triggers the release of addictive "feel-good" brain chemicals, new research shows.

The finding helps researchers understand why smokers have such a tough time quitting despite all the health dangers. They presented their report at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held this week in San Diego.

It's the first human study to show that smoking cigarettes stimulates the brain's production of chemicals called opioids. The opioids are known to play a role in soothing pain, increasing positive emotions, and creating a sense of reward. Both morphine and heroin trigger this same chemical flow.

The new study also confirms previous findings -- from animal studies -- that smoking cigarettes affects the flow of another feel-good brain chemical called dopamine. Researchers are now investigating the interaction between the two chemicals in the brains of smokers and nonsmokers.

"It appears that smokers have an altered opioid flow all the time, when compared with non-smokers, and that smoking a cigarette further alters that flow by 20 to 30 percent in regions of the brain important to emotions and craving," says lead researcher David J. Scott, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in a news release.

Smoking Cigarettes During Brain Scans

Scott's research team spent several years testing a way of using PET imaging (positive emission tomography) to study the opioid system in the brain. The scans don't show the flow of opioids directly, but they do show opioid receptor activity in the brain.

Morphine and heroin are among the drugs that bind to these receptors.

The University of Michigan researchers have also created a system that allows someone to smoke cigarettes while lying in the PET scanner having his or her brain scanned.

That's how they conducted this new study, which involved six healthy men who smoked one pack per day. All refrained from smoking cigarettes for at least 10 hours before the study began. During their brain scans, each first smoked a cigarette almost devoid of nicotine, and then smoked a regular cigarette.

Researchers also asked the men to rate their feelings at various times during the study, including before and after smoking cigarettes.

Significant differences in the flow of opioids were seen when the smoker smoked low-nicotine versus high-nicotine cigarettes.

While the men smoked low-nicotine cigarettes, their brains started to show changes in opioid flow. But as soon as they smoked regular cigarettes, opioid levels increased significantly in the brain area involved in emotion and emotion-memory processing, Scott reports.

However, other brain regions were 20% to 30% less active -- the areas involved in memory, emotion, and pleasure. This matched the men's feelings at the time: They reported feeling more relaxed, less alert, less nervous, and having fewer cravings than before smoking cigarettes.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Personally, I still think the tobacco companies are getting off too easily. And people like Dr. Jeffrey Wigand get screwed by trying to uncover the truth about the tobacco companies' attempts to make cigarettes more addictive.

It's your own problem if you smoke, not the tobacco companies.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Originally posted by: conjur
http://content.health.msn.com/...96/103554.htm?GT1=5706

Oct. 27, 2004 -- Just like heroin and morphine, smoking cigarettes triggers the release of addictive "feel-good" brain chemicals, new research shows.

The finding helps researchers understand why smokers have such a tough time quitting despite all the health dangers. They presented their report at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held this week in San Diego.

It's the first human study to show that smoking cigarettes stimulates the brain's production of chemicals called opioids. The opioids are known to play a role in soothing pain, increasing positive emotions, and creating a sense of reward. Both morphine and heroin trigger this same chemical flow.

The new study also confirms previous findings -- from animal studies -- that smoking cigarettes affects the flow of another feel-good brain chemical called dopamine. Researchers are now investigating the interaction between the two chemicals in the brains of smokers and nonsmokers.

"It appears that smokers have an altered opioid flow all the time, when compared with non-smokers, and that smoking a cigarette further alters that flow by 20 to 30 percent in regions of the brain important to emotions and craving," says lead researcher David J. Scott, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in a news release.

Smoking Cigarettes During Brain Scans

Scott's research team spent several years testing a way of using PET imaging (positive emission tomography) to study the opioid system in the brain. The scans don't show the flow of opioids directly, but they do show opioid receptor activity in the brain.

Morphine and heroin are among the drugs that bind to these receptors.

The University of Michigan researchers have also created a system that allows someone to smoke cigarettes while lying in the PET scanner having his or her brain scanned.

That's how they conducted this new study, which involved six healthy men who smoked one pack per day. All refrained from smoking cigarettes for at least 10 hours before the study began. During their brain scans, each first smoked a cigarette almost devoid of nicotine, and then smoked a regular cigarette.

Researchers also asked the men to rate their feelings at various times during the study, including before and after smoking cigarettes.

Significant differences in the flow of opioids were seen when the smoker smoked low-nicotine versus high-nicotine cigarettes.

While the men smoked low-nicotine cigarettes, their brains started to show changes in opioid flow. But as soon as they smoked regular cigarettes, opioid levels increased significantly in the brain area involved in emotion and emotion-memory processing, Scott reports.

However, other brain regions were 20% to 30% less active -- the areas involved in memory, emotion, and pleasure. This matched the men's feelings at the time: They reported feeling more relaxed, less alert, less nervous, and having fewer cravings than before smoking cigarettes.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Personally, I still think the tobacco companies are getting off too easily. And people like Dr. Jeffrey Wigand get screwed by trying to uncover the truth about the tobacco companies' attempts to make cigarettes more addictive.

It's your own problem if you smoke, not the tobacco companies.

<sigh> More ignorance.

Do you *not* understand the whole point of this???

Apparently not.

 

[lordtyranus]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Originally posted by: conjur
http://content.health.msn.com/...96/103554.htm?GT1=5706

Oct. 27, 2004 -- Just like heroin and morphine, smoking cigarettes triggers the release of addictive "feel-good" brain chemicals, new research shows.

The finding helps researchers understand why smokers have such a tough time quitting despite all the health dangers. They presented their report at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held this week in San Diego.

It's the first human study to show that smoking cigarettes stimulates the brain's production of chemicals called opioids. The opioids are known to play a role in soothing pain, increasing positive emotions, and creating a sense of reward. Both morphine and heroin trigger this same chemical flow.

The new study also confirms previous findings -- from animal studies -- that smoking cigarettes affects the flow of another feel-good brain chemical called dopamine. Researchers are now investigating the interaction between the two chemicals in the brains of smokers and nonsmokers.

"It appears that smokers have an altered opioid flow all the time, when compared with non-smokers, and that smoking a cigarette further alters that flow by 20 to 30 percent in regions of the brain important to emotions and craving," says lead researcher David J. Scott, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in a news release.

Smoking Cigarettes During Brain Scans

Scott's research team spent several years testing a way of using PET imaging (positive emission tomography) to study the opioid system in the brain. The scans don't show the flow of opioids directly, but they do show opioid receptor activity in the brain.

Morphine and heroin are among the drugs that bind to these receptors.

The University of Michigan researchers have also created a system that allows someone to smoke cigarettes while lying in the PET scanner having his or her brain scanned.

That's how they conducted this new study, which involved six healthy men who smoked one pack per day. All refrained from smoking cigarettes for at least 10 hours before the study began. During their brain scans, each first smoked a cigarette almost devoid of nicotine, and then smoked a regular cigarette.

Researchers also asked the men to rate their feelings at various times during the study, including before and after smoking cigarettes.

Significant differences in the flow of opioids were seen when the smoker smoked low-nicotine versus high-nicotine cigarettes.

While the men smoked low-nicotine cigarettes, their brains started to show changes in opioid flow. But as soon as they smoked regular cigarettes, opioid levels increased significantly in the brain area involved in emotion and emotion-memory processing, Scott reports.

However, other brain regions were 20% to 30% less active -- the areas involved in memory, emotion, and pleasure. This matched the men's feelings at the time: They reported feeling more relaxed, less alert, less nervous, and having fewer cravings than before smoking cigarettes.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Personally, I still think the tobacco companies are getting off too easily. And people like Dr. Jeffrey Wigand get screwed by trying to uncover the truth about the tobacco companies' attempts to make cigarettes more addictive.

It's your own problem if you smoke, not the tobacco companies.

<sigh> More ignorance.

Do you *not* understand the whole point of this???

Apparently not.

Apparently you lack the concept of self-responsibilty.

 

[b0mbrman]

Another reason why I choose not to smoke. Other people should also not smoke

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman
Another reason why I choose not to smoke. Other people should also not smoke

Congratulations on your strength of character. Thanks for your wisdom.

I'm a mere youth of 63, and I don't smoke, either. Unfortunately, when I was a younger kid of 14, there were no warning labels on the packs, and there were ads on radio and TV claiming "more doctors" recommended one brand or another.

I've lost more than ten friends in a seven year span to tobacco related illnesses, and I'm PISSED! :| The tobacco execs have known since the 50's that their products are carcinogenic and addictive, and they lied about it and conspired to cover up what they knew and bribed our legislators to keep their dirty secret and allow them to continue selling their death.

I believe every tobacco exec for the last 50 - 60 years should be tried for crimes against humanity for the killer products they continue to market. I watched those lying assholes raise their hands before Congress and swear that tobacco was not addictive or carcinogenic. :|

A few years ago, California passed an initiatiative that is one of the strongest anti-smoking laws in the country. Despite the tobacco lobby spending a record amount for a private interest to defeat this initiative, it passed by a record margin of 80% - 20% margin. In the very next session of the state legislature, our elected representatives in the State Assembly passed a bill to overturn that initiative. Fortunately, the media stink that followed caused the State Senate to think better of the idea and kill it. I still have to wonder how much money it takes to get over half of a state legilative body to overturn a law passed by 80% of the voters.

Now, Philip Morris's saccherine anti-smoking commercials are equally lame. If they believed 10% of what they say, they would immediately stop selling their tobacco products.

To hide the association with their other products, they now call the parent company, Altria. From their site

Marketing Excellence and Innovation

Philip Morris International?s brand portfolio includes seven of the top 20 international brands, including Marlboro, which has been the best-selling international cigarette brand since 1972, and L&amp;M, which is now the No. 3 brand in the world over the last decade. Other brands include Philip Morris, Chesterfield, Bond Street, Lark and Parliament.

Can you say lying, two faced mofos, boys and girls? :|

If you don't smoke, your buying decisions about tobacco are irrelevant to them. However, you, and those with whom you share the info, below, can have an effect by boycotting tobacco-owned food products, depriving them of income from those sources. Here's a list from Philip Morris' Altria/Kraft Foods site:

Altoids mints
Athenos Cheeses
Baker's Chocolate and Coconut
Breakstone's Sour Cream, Cottage Cheese, etc.
Breyer's Ice Cream, Yogurt, etc.
Bull's-Eye barbecue and grilling sauces
California Pizza Kitchen pizza
Callard &amp; Bowser Toffees
Calumet Baking Powder
Campbell Soups
Capri Sun
Churny Cheeses
Claussen Pickles
Comet Cups Icecream Cones
Cool Whip
Country Time (pseudo) Lemonade (They really should call this a kit, instead of a mix.)
Cracker Barrel cheeses
CremeSavers
Crystal Light
D-Zerta
Di Giorno Italian foods
Easy Cheese Process Cheese Spread
General Foods (all products)
Good Seasons Salad Dressing Mixes
Grey Poupon
Handi-Snacks
Harvest Moon cheeses
Hoffman's cheeses
Jack's Pizza
Jello
Jet-Puffed
Knudsen dairy products
Kool-Aid
Kool Stuf Toaster Pastries
Kraft Foods
La Vie De La Vosgienne candies
Life Savers
Light n' Lively cottage cheese
Louis Rich lunch meats
Lunchables
Maxwell House Coffee
Milk-Bone Dog Biscuits
Milka L'il Scoops
Miller Beer
Minute Rice
Mirácoli pasta
Nabisco products
Oscar Meyer
Oven Fry Coatings
Polly-O Cheeses
Post Cereals
Ragu Sauces, etc.
Sanka Coffee
Sather's Candies
Sauceworks
Sealtest dairy products
Seven Seas Salad Dressings
Shake 'N Bake
Starbucks coffees (Packaged products in stores)
Stove Top Stuffings, etc.
Taco Bell dinner kits, Salsa, etc.
Tang
Temp-tee cream cheese
Terry's candies
Toblerone and Tobler Candies
Tombstone Pizza (appropriate, don't ya think?) :roll:
Trolli Candies
Woody's Cold Pack Cheese
Yuban Coffee

Death to the tobacco murderers! :| :| :|

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
It's your own problem if you smoke, not the tobacco companies.

<sigh> More ignorance.

Do you *not* understand the whole point of this???

Apparently not.

Apparently you lack the concept of self-responsibilty.

Apparently, you lack reading comprehension skills.

 

[lordtyranus]

I've lost more than ten friends in a seven year span to tobacco related illnesses, and I'm PISSED! The tobacco execs have known since the 50's that their products are carcinogenic and addictive, and they lied about it and conspired to cover up what they knew and bribed our legislators to keep their dirty secret and allow them to continue selling their death.

What is it with liberals and blaming the big evil companies these days?

Apparently, you lack reading comprehension skills.

My reading comprehension is fine, thank you very much for your concern though. Please, continue to bash the evil neocon tobacco companies. Funny though, I thought the Democratic party was one of marijuana legalization.

I can see it now: Evil marijuana companies (which we legalized) sell deadly products that kill our kids!!! Death to the marijuana murderers! :| :| :|

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: conjur
http://content.health.msn.com/...96/103554.htm?GT1=5706

Oct. 27, 2004 -- Just like heroin and morphine, smoking cigarettes triggers the release of addictive "feel-good" brain chemicals, new research shows.

The finding helps researchers understand why smokers have such a tough time quitting despite all the health dangers. They presented their report at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, held this week in San Diego.

It's the first human study to show that smoking cigarettes stimulates the brain's production of chemicals called opioids. The opioids are known to play a role in soothing pain, increasing positive emotions, and creating a sense of reward. Both morphine and heroin trigger this same chemical flow.

The new study also confirms previous findings -- from animal studies -- that smoking cigarettes affects the flow of another feel-good brain chemical called dopamine. Researchers are now investigating the interaction between the two chemicals in the brains of smokers and nonsmokers.

"It appears that smokers have an altered opioid flow all the time, when compared with non-smokers, and that smoking a cigarette further alters that flow by 20 to 30 percent in regions of the brain important to emotions and craving," says lead researcher David J. Scott, a graduate student in neuroscience at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, in a news release.

Smoking Cigarettes During Brain Scans

Scott's research team spent several years testing a way of using PET imaging (positive emission tomography) to study the opioid system in the brain. The scans don't show the flow of opioids directly, but they do show opioid receptor activity in the brain.

Morphine and heroin are among the drugs that bind to these receptors.

The University of Michigan researchers have also created a system that allows someone to smoke cigarettes while lying in the PET scanner having his or her brain scanned.

That's how they conducted this new study, which involved six healthy men who smoked one pack per day. All refrained from smoking cigarettes for at least 10 hours before the study began. During their brain scans, each first smoked a cigarette almost devoid of nicotine, and then smoked a regular cigarette.

Researchers also asked the men to rate their feelings at various times during the study, including before and after smoking cigarettes.

Significant differences in the flow of opioids were seen when the smoker smoked low-nicotine versus high-nicotine cigarettes.

While the men smoked low-nicotine cigarettes, their brains started to show changes in opioid flow. But as soon as they smoked regular cigarettes, opioid levels increased significantly in the brain area involved in emotion and emotion-memory processing, Scott reports.

However, other brain regions were 20% to 30% less active -- the areas involved in memory, emotion, and pleasure. This matched the men's feelings at the time: They reported feeling more relaxed, less alert, less nervous, and having fewer cravings than before smoking cigarettes.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Personally, I still think the tobacco companies are getting off too easily. And people like Dr. Jeffrey Wigand get screwed by trying to uncover the truth about the tobacco companies' attempts to make cigarettes more addictive.

So the solution is obvious - legalize heroin. :thumbsup:

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Apparently, you lack reading comprehension skills.

My reading comprehension is fine, thank you very much for your concern though. Please, continue to bash the evil neocon tobacco companies. Funny though, I thought the Democratic party was one of marijuana legalization.

I can see it now: Evil marijuana companies (which we legalized) sell deadly products that kill our kids!!! Death to the marijuana murderers! :| :| :|

Answer this, oh lordtyranus: How did people become addicted to cigarettes?

 

[lordtyranus]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Apparently, you lack reading comprehension skills.

My reading comprehension is fine, thank you very much for your concern though. Please, continue to bash the evil neocon tobacco companies. Funny though, I thought the Democratic party was one of marijuana legalization.

I can see it now: Evil marijuana companies (which we legalized) sell deadly products that kill our kids!!! Death to the marijuana murderers! :| :| :|

Answer this, oh lordtyranus: How did people become addicted to cigarettes?

Because they willingly decided to smoke them. There are warning labels on the packs. Our schools bombard us with anti-smoking rhetoric on a consistent basis. People who willingly choose to smoke dig their own grave.

If you lack the willpower to quit, its again nobody's fault but your own.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

Apparently, you lack reading comprehension skills.

My reading comprehension is fine, thank you very much for your concern though. Please, continue to bash the evil neocon tobacco companies. Funny though, I thought the Democratic party was one of marijuana legalization.

I can see it now: Evil marijuana companies (which we legalized) sell deadly products that kill our kids!!! Death to the marijuana murderers! :| :| :|

Answer this, oh lordtyranus: How did people become addicted to cigarettes?

Because they willingly decided to smoke them. There are warning labels on the packs. Our schools bombard us with anti-smoking rhetoric on a consistent basis. People who willingly choose to smoke dig their own grave.

If you lack the willpower to quit, its again nobody's fault but your own.

The warning labels weren't on there from the beginning. I believe they were first added around 1965 and are rather vague in nature. They also don't state that cigarette smoking becomes an addiction due to the way the nicotine content in the cigarettes has been manipulated, purposefully, to make them as addictive as possible.

 

[0marTheZealot]

Just about any pleasurable activity causes dopamine to be released in those parts of the brain. That's why we usually repeat actions that are pleasurable; the only real difference here is degree. Some activities produce more dopamine than others and it depends on the individual genetics of each person.

Tobacco companies have a legal obligation to oppose anything that may hurt their ultimate bottom line. Back in the 70s, legislation was passed that mandated that anti-smoking commericals be given free air time that is matched with tobacco companies' advertising time. Their response? Cut off all advertisement. The corporate officers of any publically traded company have a legal obligation to take the best fininacial descions for their companies. I am not surprised about this one bit.

And what DID happen to personal responsibility. I smoked and it was my choice. I also quit cold turkey, my choice as well. Quit blaming others for your shortcomings. No one put a gun to your head and forced you to smoke cigarettes. Just say no and be done with it or pick up a non-filtered cigarette and smoke it like a man. Quit trying to pass the buck.

 

[Train]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
It's your own problem if you smoke, not the tobacco companies.

:thumbsup: no doubt.

Like this news is gonna start some massive wave of smokers quiting, riight. like theres a single smoker out there that doesnt know smoking is bad for them. Besides, this study (or one with the same results) has been out for years.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus

I've lost more than ten friends in a seven year span to tobacco related illnesses, and I'm PISSED! The tobacco execs have known since the 50's that their products are carcinogenic and addictive, and they lied about it and conspired to cover up what they knew and bribed our legislators to keep their dirty secret and allow them to continue selling their death.

What is it with liberals and blaming the big evil companies these days?

As conjur so accurately stated

Apparently, you lack reading comprehension skills.

My post was not specifically related to "these days." It deals with continuous criminal behavior by the tobacco companies for over a half century!

My reading comprehension is fine, thank you very much for your concern though.

Really? Then try this. Tobacco is documented to be highly chemically addictive, highly carcinogenic and a major cause of other deadly afflictions. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says:

Cigarettes and Other Nicotine Products

Nicotine is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs in the United States. In 2002, 30 percent of the U.S. population 12 and older?71.5 million people?used tobacco at least once in the month prior to being interviewed. This figure includes 3.8 million young people age 12 to 17; 14 million people age 18 to 25; and 53.7 million age 26 and older.* Most of them smoked cigarettes.

The National Institutes of Health say:

Facts About Smoking

Hurting Yourself

• Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive and can make it very hard, but not impossible, to quit.
  
• More than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. each year are from smoking-related illnesses. Smoking greatly increases your risks for lung cancer and many other cancers.

Hurting Others

• Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers and others who breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke.
  
• Among infants to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year.
  
• Secondhand smoke from a parent's cigarette increases a child's chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing, and worsens asthma conditions.
  
• If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a young person whose parents are both non-smokers. In households where only one parent smokes, young people are also more likely to start smoking.
  
• Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low for the babies' good health. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.

Why Quit?

• Quitting smoking makes a difference right away - you can taste and smell food better. Your breath smells better. Your cough goes away. This happens for men and women of all ages, even those who are older. It happens for healthy people as well as those who already have a disease or condition caused by smoking.
  
• Quitting smoking cuts the risk of lung cancer, many other cancers, heart disease, stroke, other lung diseases, and other respiratory illnesses.
  
• Ex-smokers have better health than current smokers. Ex-smokers have fewer days of illness, fewer health complaints, and less bronchitis and pneumonia than current smokers.
  
• Quitting smoking saves money. A pack-a-day smoker, who pays $2 per pack can, expect to save more than $700 per year. It appears that the price of cigarettes will continue to rise in coming years, as will the financial rewards of quitting.[/b]

Please, continue to bash the evil neocon tobacco companies. Funny though, I thought the Democratic party was one of marijuana legalization.

I can see it now: Evil marijuana companies (which we legalized) sell deadly products that kill our kids!!! Death to the marijuana murderers! :| :| :|

Now, that's another topic or three, isn't it? First, even (or especially) if pot were legalized, it stands to reason that the laws would include same kinds of restrictions on sales to minors as presently exist for the sale of alcohol.

Second, there is littlle, if any, evidence that pot is chemically addictive like tobacco, heroin and crack cocaine.

Third, even assuming pot is as carcinogenic as tobacco, I don't know anyone who can smoke twenty joints per day by themselves. If they can, they need a better dealer.

Fourth -- Evil neocon" tobacco companies??? :roll:
Evil they are, but you shouldn't be suprised how many staunch right wing Republicans have shared a friendly joint.

Finally, as a commentary on your poor reading comprehension, I don't care how big or small the companies are. I care what they have done to my friends and family, and I care that they are still heavily marketing their death to kids, today. They've just changed their tactics in an attempt to camouflage their intent. The big money is what allows them to continue.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Train

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
It's your own problem if you smoke, not the tobacco companies.

:thumbsup: no doubt.

Like this news is gonna start some massive wave of smokers quiting, riight. like theres a single smoker out there that doesnt know smoking is bad for them. Besides, this study (or one with the same results) has been out for years.

And just how easy is it for most to quit? Not easy at all. That's why the tobacco companies have purposefully and secretively altered the chemical composition of cigarettes and adjusted the nicotine levels to make them more and more addictive.

 

[lordtyranus]

Really? Then try this. Tobacco is documented to be highly chemically addictive, highly carcinogenic and a major cause of other deadly afflictions. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says:

Nobody is debating the damaging effects of cigarettes.

Finally, as a commentary on your poor reading comprehension, I don't care how big or small the companies are. I care what they have done to my friends and family, and I care that they are still heavily marketing their death to kids, today. They've just changed their tactics in an attempt to camouflage their intent. The big money is what allows them to continue.

Then why don't you tell your idiot friends and family not to smoke? That big money is coming from the pockets of the very same people who it kills.

Now, that's another topic or three, isn't it? First, even (or especially) if pot were legalized, it stands to reason that the laws would include same kinds of restrictions on sales to minors as presently exist for the sale of alcohol.

Second, there is littlle, if any, evidence that pot is chemically addictive like tobacco, heroin and crack cocaine.

Third, even assuming pot is as carcinogenic as tobacco, I don't know anyone who can smoke twenty joints per day by themselves. If they can, they need a better dealer.

Irrelevant. Tobacco laws currently are essentially ineffective in keeping cigarettes out of kids hands. Marijuana HAS caused deaths, and it follows that bleeding heart liberals such as yourself will yet again try to pin responsibility on the companies.

Evil they are, but you shouldn't be suprised how many staunch right wing Republicans have shared a friendly joint.

I have a few times. If I get sick and die because of it, I expect nobody's sympathy.

So, Harvey, if I am a gun salesman, and someone commits suicide, should I be held liable because I didn't tell the person that a gun can kill them?

And just how easy is it for most to quit? Not easy at all. That's why the tobacco companies have purposefully and secretively altered the chemical composition of cigarettes and adjusted the nicotine levels to make them more and more addictive.

That's your problem. People have done it, though admittedly I guess its tough for weak minded individuals.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: lordtyranus
Nobody is debating the damaging effects of cigarettes.

Then why are you such an avid defender of those who continue to make and sell them? :roll:

Then why don't you tell your idiot friends and family not to smoke? That big money is coming from the pockets of the very same people who it kills.

No sh8, Sherlock. I have spoken, often, to my tobacco addicted friends. Ever tried talking to a chemically dependent addict? On a one on one basis, it's a long, slow, conversation. Sometimes, it's just a futile monologue.

That's just dealing with the existing addiction, and it really isn't the point. I see much greater fault with the companies who, knowing the destructive nature of their products, continue manufacture and market them and to target new young smokers, primarily in their early teens, who aren't mature enough to consider the consequenses until after they're addicted. That's not just my opioin. It's documented fact.

Irrelevant. Tobacco laws currently are essentially ineffective in keeping cigarettes out of kids hands. Marijuana HAS caused deaths, and it follows that bleeding heart liberals such as yourself will yet again try to pin responsibility on the companies.

Hmm... You'll have to explain how my politics has anything to do with the biology and mechanics of chemical dependency or the intrinsic evil of allowing companies of any size to continue to victimize more people with their products. :roll:

I guess we could infer that you believe "bleeding heart liberals" are the only ones with a functional social conscience, but since I know plenty of more conservative folks, despite your cliches, understand such realities and agree with me, I'll be mature enough to assume your lack of comprehension is your personal failing and not the mental weakness of an entire group with whom I disagree on other issues.

 

[lordtyranus]

Then why are you such an avid defender of those who continue to make and sell them?

Because I believe people should have a choice to smoke if they choose and tobacco companies should be allowed to continue standard business practices.

That's just dealing with the existing addiction, and it really isn't the point. I see much greater fault with the companies who, knowing the destructive nature of their products, continue manufacture and market them and to target new young smokers, primarily in their early teens, who aren't mature enough to consider the consequenses until after they're addicted. That's not just my opioin. It's documented fact.

Oh please. Anti smoking programs are so rampant today that its a wonder tobacco companies can get anyone to smoke in the first place. Your "documented fact" is nothing more than an excuse for fools who thought smoking was "cool" and decided to do so, despite the warning on the fvking pack.

Where are the parents of these kids in thier early teens? Why weren't these kids paying attention in DARE?

I guess we could infer that you believe "bleeding heart liberals" are the only ones with a functional social conscience, but since I know plenty of more conservative folks, despite your cliches, understand such realities and agree with me, I'll be mature enough to assume your lack of comprehension is your personal failing and not the mental weakness of an entire group with whom I disagree on other issues.

They're the only ones who deflect blame and have no concept of people taking care of themselves.

 

[Gatos]

This article is completely wrong!!!! Morphine and Heroin are full Mu agonist and work completley in different pharmalogical mechanism than Nicotine does. Basically all of these drugs can develop physical dependence but it has to do with several factors, if your interested I will enlighten.

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

Originally posted by: Gatos
This article is completely wrong!!!! Morphine and Heroin are full Mu agonist and work completley in different pharmalogical mechanism than Nicotine does. Basically all of these drugs can develop physical dependence but it has to do with several factors, if your interested I will enlighten.

Actually heroin is converted into morphine in the body. But it's highly unlikely you have enough knowledge about pharmacology to talk intelligently about it. While it is certainly true that nicotine does not BIND opioid receptors, the PET studies clearly show that nicotine is a direct mediator in the activation of opioiod pathways.

For example, cocaine does not activate dopamine receptors but it does block dopamine reuptake. The functional consequence is an increase in dopaminergic activity (short term). A wide swath of clinical pharmacology is based on activating surrogate pathways in order to reach a different target.

As for this article, the basic take home is that nicotine is doing a two-step with dopamine and endogenous opioid pathways. Accordingly, it's not surprising that it is not only pleasurable but highly addictive. Obviously, this article is not as "accurate" as the actual poster at SfN but it's close enough for MSN.