MacRaven - Dave Haxton's Weblog

Tue, 20 Feb 2007

Smoking produces changes in human brain like those in animals using illicit drugs

There ya have it: one cigarette and the next think ya know you'll be shootin' smack!

I'm gonna apply for a grant to study the deadly effects of carrots - why, did you know that every single human who ate a carrot before 1870 is now dead! Astonishing how long this threat has gone undetected! But don't worry, I'm digging for the root of the problem - the Orange Menace must be stopped at all costs!

New research shows for the first time that smoking produces long-lasting biochemical changes in the human brain similar to those changes previously seen in the brains of animals that used cocaine, heroin, and other illicit drugs.

(link) [EurekAlert!]

/Humor | 3 writebacks | permanent link

On 2/20/2007 07:40:25
Arwin wrote

Surprised?

Why does this surprise you Dave? You've said in your blog you like smoking because of "the mild psychotropic effects." I don't see any statements in the article you've linked to suggesting cigarette smoking will lead to illicit drug use. The article simply states "...smoking produces long-lasting biochemical changes in the human brain similar to those changes previously seen in the brains of animals that used cocaine, heroin, and other illicit drugs." The article says SIMILAR not even identical. Sounds like a reasonable conclusion to me. The point you should make is: how applicable is this data? I think the only applicability is for the prospective smoker to make an informed decision about taking up smoking. Based on this article it is hard to give up smoking if the smoker decides they no longer want to smoke. I don’t think this is a news flash to anyone. This is just more data. Dave you'd have more cred on this topic if you didn't overplay your hand.

On 2/20/2007 13:13:24
Dave H wrote

Ah....

Well, I agree completely. But note that this was categorized was in "Humor" after all, and the play was off the "Doh!" factor - of course nicotine is psychoactive! I hardly need a multimillion dollar study from NIH to tell me the obvious. Which led to the "carrot" jab ... one of my favorites! Thanks for the comment and Be well, Dave H.

On 2/20/2007 13:22:38
Arwin wrote

Curiousity

Mankind is always asking the question: "How does this work?" I'd say while this study isn't surprising the surprise would be if the bio-mechanisim was markedly different than expected. How worthwhile is the study? Well since they found what you'd expect not much. If the converse were true well who knows where that would lead? Sorry to jump so hard. I never read the headings. I guess I'd better start.

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