Smoking is an addiction similar to that of hard drugs. One of the components in cigarettes, nicotine, attaches to nicotinic receptors in the brain, and then triggers the release of dopamine, which gives one the feeling of being more alert and at the same time more calm. This feeling of increased wellbeing is addictive.
Certain people are more sensitive to nicotine addiction than others, due to their genetic markers, which makes them more susceptible. Professor Saul Shiffman, a behavioural psychologist, divides smokers into two categories – chippers and regular smokers. Chippers are more social smokers, they can go for days without smoking and they have no problem abstaining – a little nicotine every now and then is enough to experience the “high” feeling of wellbeing. However, regular or heavy smokers handle large doses of nicotine, which they need to replenish regularly, to maintain the feeling of increased pleasure. Such smokers will find it much harder to quit than others.
E-cigarettes have become very popular as a possible way of kicking the habit of smoking. Although advertised as a revolutionary technology, e-cigarettes are not as harmless as they are made out to be. More and more people are actually using e-cigarettes as a replacement drug, rather than helping them to actually stop smoking.
E- cigarettes do release nicotine, which is addictive and poisonous. The difference is that they do not contain all the other harmful chemicals found in cigarettes and thus release less of them into the air as well. However, as nicotine is a Schedule 3 substance by the MCC (Medicine Control Council), e-cigarettes are supposed to be sold at pharmacies on prescription only; however, this regulation is largely ignored. The ban on smoking indoors should apply to e-cigarettes as well, as studies have shown that exhaled aerosol from e-cigarettes increases the level of some toxicants and nicotine in the air.
Research is currently under way to fully understand both the risks and long term effects of e-cigarette use, and until we have more clarity, great caution is suggested before turning to e-cigarettes as a safe means to curb nicotine addiction.
