Tobacco is Unscheduled in the United States. It is legal to purchase over the age of eighteen.
Addictive Potential: Medium
Deaths Yearly: 435,000
Mandatory Minimum Sentence: None
Mechanism of Action: Increases the Neurotransmitter Acetylcholine
Overview:
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana.
Tobacco has a long history of use in Native American culture. It played an important part in the foundation of the United States of America, going back to colonial times.
Commercially available in both dried and cured forms, it is often smoked (see tobacco smoking) in the form of a cigar or cigarette, or in a stem pipe, water pipe, or hookah. Tobacco can also be chewed, "dipped" (placed between the cheek and gum), or sniffed into the nose as finely powdered snuff. Many countries set a minimum smoking age, regulating the purchase and use of tobacco products.
All means of consumption result in the absorption of nicotine, in varying amounts, into the user's bloodstream. Over time, tolerance and dependence develop. Absorption quantity, frequency, and speed seem to have a direct relationship with how strong dependence and tolerance are created.
Supplements to Help Quit Smoking:
Nicotine increases acetylcholine via the nicotinic cholinergic receptors.
Raise acetylcholine with:
Choline
Phosphatidylcholine
Phosphatidylserine
Lecithin
Zyban (smoking cessation pill) works by inhibiting the neuronal uptake of norepinephrine and dopamine - basically it increases Dopamine and Norepinephrine (through inhibition of reuptake vs. adding more dopamine to the system).
Raise Dopamine with:
L-Tyrosine
SNUS:
Snus is a moist powder tobacco product originated from a variant of dry snuff, in the early 19th century in Sweden, consumed by placing it under the lip for extended periods of time. Snus is a form of snuff that is used in a manner similar to American dipping tobacco, but typically does not result in the need for spitting. Snus is also unique in that it is steam-cured rather than fire-cured, is not fermented and contains no added sugar.
Since snus is not intended nor recommended for inhalation, it does not affect the lungs as cigarettes do. Because it is steam-cured, rather than fire-cured like smoking tobacco or other chewing tobacco, it contains lower concentrations of nitrosamines and other carcinogens that form from the partially anaerobic heating of proteins; 2.8 parts per mil for Ettan brand compared to as high as 127.9 parts per mil in American brands, according to a study by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges that Swedish men have the lowest rate of lung cancer in Europe, partly due to the low tobacco smoking rate, but does not argue for substituting snus for smoking, citing that the effects of snus still remain unclear. Around 2005 several reports, partially funded by the snus industry, pointed to the fact that no carcinogenic effects could be attributed to Nordic snus and this resulted in the removal of the warning label that claimed snus could cause cancer. It was replaced with the more neutral label "Can affect your health negatively".
The European Union banned the sale of snus in 1992, after a 1985 WHO study concluded that "oral use of snuffs of the types used in North America and western Europe is carcinogenic to humans", but a WHO committee on tobacco has also acknowledged that evidence is inconclusive regarding health consequences for snus consumers. Only Sweden and EFTA-member Norway are exempt from this ban. A popular movement during the run-up to the 1994 referendum for Sweden's EU membership made exemption from the EU sale ban of snus a condition of the membership treaty. Snus is currently available in the United States.
