New Study Shows Nicotine May Contribute to Cocaine Addiction
Well, here’s a new twist to the whole addiction conundrum! A new study by researchers at New York’s Columbia University shows a correlation between cocaine addiction and nicotine. So, in addition to causing lung cancer, cigarettes are now being associated with setting the scene for addictions.
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While the study was done on mice, and not humans, researchers say a reduction in smoking should also lead to a decrease in cocaine addiction. Just another reason to quit puffing on those cancer sticks.
Of particular note is that nicotine is being called a “gateway” drug, a designation previously reserved for marijuana…
While the study does not purport to be definitive in relation to humans, it does suggest that nicotine may be a factor in all sorts of addiction, primarily because of its effects on brain chemistry.
Certainly, the tobacco lobby will come up with another spin to discredit this research.
Nicotine primes the brain to embrace cocaine, study says
Filed under: Cocaine Addiction News
“If our findings in mice apply to humans, a decrease in smoking rates in young people would be expected to lead to a decrease in cocaine addiction,” the authors wrote. Researchers led by Dr. Amir Levine at Columbia University in New York treated mice …
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Of Course Food Is Addictive! Why Is Anything Else?
Filed under: Cocaine Addiction News
We ask “should we legalize marijuana for medical use?” without asking: on what basis, in general, should drugs be permissible for medical use? We might at least grapple with the fact that medical cocaine is already legal, as are close-cousins to heroin …
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Using Neuroscience To Help Addicts Kick the Habit
Filed under: Cocaine Addiction News
“Just last week, we actually scanned our first cocaine addict, who is someone who wants to quit but has not been able to. This has essentially ruined his life,” Eagleman says. He describes what happened: We put him in the scanner … and we showed him …
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- Using Neuroscience To Help Addicts Kick the Habit – Slate (slate.com)
- Brain Primed By Nicotine For Cocaine Use: Molecular Basis Of Gateway Sequence Of Drug Use (medicalnewstoday.com)
- Nicotine primes brain for cocaine use: Molecular basis of gateway sequence of drug use (eurekalert.org)
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