WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...NICOTINE

Nicotine is the most addicting drug there is. It's one of more than 4,000 chemicals found in the smoke of tobacco. Tobacco use is responsible for more than twice the number of deaths caused by AIDS, alcohol, motor vehicle accidents, homicide, drugs and suicide combined.

What does it do to your mind/body?

Nicotine is an upper. It stimulates the central nervous system and causes increases in heart rate, breathing and blood pressure. It causes the fingers and toes to feel cold by reducing blood supply to those areas. Inexperienced smokers may suffer diarrhea and vomiting.

Smoking is the primary cause of lung cancer.

Smoking is also:

• associated with cancers of the mouth and upper respiratory tract
• a contributory factor in the development of cancer of the bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach and cervix
• the most common cause of chronic respiratory disease, e.g. chronic bronchitis and emphysema

Smokers have:

• much greater risks of coronary heart disease, stroke and impaired circulation of the legs and feet leading to gangrene than non-smokers
• less effective immune systems than non-smokers, which could decrease an individual's resistance to infection and cancer

Second hand smoke (the smoke from the lighted end of the cigarette) is several times more dangerous than smoke that goes through a filter into a smokers lungs. For this reason, a smoke-filled environment is extremely unhealthy for non-smokers. 300,000 children suffer from lower respiratory tract infections each year due to exposure to second-hand smoke.

Is it addictive?

Yes, nicotine is extremely addictive. Tolerance occurs when the body becomes so accustomed to the drug that the smoker needs more to achieve the same effect. Dependence occurs when the drug becomes so central to the smoker's thoughts that he/she feels unable to live without it. Tolerance to and dependence on nicotine can develop very quickly (sometimes just a few hours of smoking is all it takes), and occurs with continued use. 3,000 American teens become smokers every day. 1/3 of them will die from a smoke related illness. More than 450, 000 Americans die each year from smoking related illnesses. (That includes 50,000 who die from diseases caused from second hand smoke.)

Withdrawal symptoms from nicotine include:

• intense craving for nicotine
• tension, irritability, restlessness, depression and difficulty concentrating
• a drop in pulse rate and blood pressure
• disturbed sleep
• slower reaction times
• constipation

Find out more about nicotine and anti-tobacco campaigns.

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