What Makes a Smoker Addicted to Nicotine - Essay Example

"What Makes a Smoker Addicted to Nicotine" is a good example of a paper on addiction.
Drugs or substance abuse is considered one of the most serious causes of health, social, and economic problems throughout the United States.  Particularly cancer which is directly linked to smoking addiction has been reported as the second leading cause of death throughout the United States. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008) Other smoking-related deaths include lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, and chronic airways obstruction. (Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Crisis - the United States, 1995 - 1999, 2002)

Despite the U.S. government’s effort to promote a smoke-free environment in workplaces and public areas like the hospital, bars and restaurants[1], the number of individuals who were diagnosed with lung cancer and other adverse health effects that have lead to roughly 438,000 death in the United States each year. (Indoor Air Quality in Hospitality Venues Before and After Implementation of a Clean Indoor Air Law - Western New York, 2003, 2004; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003)

Studies show that there is a strong connection between smoking, drug abuse, and criminal activities.  Based on the 2002 survey in jails, around 44% of men and 52% of women show signs of alcohol, smoking, and/or drug dependency at some point in their lives. (Karberg & James, 2005)  Likewise, the National Institute of Justice (2003) also reported that 56% and 40% of adolescent men and women were tested positive on the use of drugs at the time these individuals were arrested.

According to Kreeger (1995), neurological studies are one of the best ways to provide a good explanation with regards to the main causes and mechanisms behind the addiction to nicotine.  In fact, several studies that were conducted in the past show that dopamine transporter that travels through the nerve terminals is responsible for the drug users’ satisfying reactions. (Koob, Sanna, and Bloom, 1998; Corrigall, 1991)  In the past, the study of Hirschhorn et al. (1979) also shows that the stimulating effects are caused by nicotinic receptors. Therefore, only a nicotinic receptor blocker mecamylamine could reverse the addicting effect of nicotine.

In order to treat nicotine addiction. another clinical study on the use of ibogaine shows that ibogaine can provide a good result as a treatment for nicotine addiction due to its capability to reset the dopamine uptake pathways that is responsible in giving the sense of pleasure as well as the craving centers of the brain which have become unbalanced because of the excessive smoking. (Glick, Maisonneuve, & Szumlinski, 2000)  As a result, nicotine-dependent individuals could easily break from the habit of smoking.

As an introduction to a thesis topic, the researcher will conduct a literature review on “What Makes a Smoker Addicted to Nicotine?”  In the process, the researcher will gather several peer-reviewed journals in order to discuss the side-effects of using excessive nicotine in the human body as well as all the possible medical explanations that could cause a person to try and eventually be hooked with smoking.  Aside from the presence of dopamine transporter in the human body, the researcher will also search for other biological and psychological factors related to nicotine addiction.  

[1]  “Effective July 24, 2003, New York has implemented a comprehensive state law that requires almost all the indoor workplaces and public places to be smoke-free.”