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According to a new study published in the September, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the risk of heart attacks was reduced, as a result of smoking bans in public areas. This was noted particularly among younger individuals as well as nonsmokers and is reducing the number of heart attacks by as much as 26% each year.

According to Dr. David Meyers, Professor of Cardiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, ‘even breathing in low doses of cigarette smoke can increase the risk of heart attacks’. Dr. Meyers is the lead investigator of the most comprehensive study done to date on smoking issues. Dr. Meyers also stated that ‘public smoking bans might also help prevent lung cancer and emphysema’.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shown new signs of regulating the tobacco industry by placing a federal ban on flavored cigarettes effective September 22, 2009.

This means that it is illegal to manufacture, import, market or distribute candy, fruit and all flavored cigarettes. According to health and federal authorities, flavored cigarettes are more appealing to youth and simply encourages smoking. It doesn’t take a ‘rocket scientist’ to see that flavored cigarettes are a gateway for children and young adults to become addicted to tobacco/nicotine.

A federal appeals court on May 22,2009, agreed with the major elements of a 2006 landmark ruling that found the nation's top tobacco companies guilty of racketeering and fraud for deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking.

County and state governments cry over shortfalls these days but may be cutting some programs that actually save them money. Take Sacramento County Probation Department’s Adult Drug Court. To an outsider, the daily acupuncture, wholesome lunches, nutritional supplements, and stress reduction classes seem beside the point, but studies are beginning to suggest they’re doing something right.

A State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) cost benefit analysis published in December 2008 followed the program’s graduates from 2004 and 2005 for two years and found that 83% of them stayed out of the criminal justice system during that time. Since it costs the Sheriff over $90 per day to house an offender in jail, the AOC figures Drug Court saved Sacramento County $20 million from its creation in 1995 through 2005.

“In a sea of despair, we offer an island of good news,” says Carolyn Reuben, LAc, Executive Director of Community Addiction Recovery Association (CARA), the subcontractor providing the most unique Drug Court programming in the state and maybe the nation. Her employees add value, she says, to the drug court model of counseling and brief incarceration which gives nonviolent criminals with drug problems the incentive to stay clean and sober.

What’s different in Sacramento is the emphasis on brain repair. “You can’t “just say no’ to addiction any more than you can to diabetes,” explains Reuben. “Both are biochemical deficiency diseases needing more of something the body is missing. With addiction what’s missing are chemicals in a person’s nervous system that regulate pain, depression, strong emotions, and feelings of wellbeing.”

A research report states that human male fertility is impacted by chronic marijuana users. Evidence shows that the sperm has decreased ability to fertilize due to poor penetration of the female egg.

The prescription drug Darvon has been used to treat pain for more than 50 years but has left a trail of problems such as addiction and suicide.

A counselor and a scientist collaborated on a book – “Overload” – to show that there is a vital connection between attention deficit disorder and addiction.

David Miller, a counselor, had struggled with his own ADHD and alcoholism.

Kenneth Blum, PhD, a renowned neuroscientist credited with the co-discovery (with Dr. Ernest Noble of UCLA and former director of The National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA)) of the first genetic association of the dopamine D2 receptor gene with severe alcoholism.

Some of the findings I learned include:

* Significantly more children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) develop problems with alcoholism or drug addiction than do children without ADHD.

* The D2 receptor gene is associated with a variety of impulsive, compulsive, addictive behaviors, including the use of crack cocaine, smoking, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Dr. Blum gave a name to this complex condition – reward deficiency syndrome (RDS). This relates to the deficiency in the reward part of the brain where dopamine works.

Recent research by David Zald at Vanderbilt and published by the Journal of Neuroscience shows that people that have less of a particular type of dopamine receptor may lead them to taking more risks including the use of drugs.

Dopamine has long been known to play an important role in how we experience rewards from a variety of natural sources, including food and sex, as well as from drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine. Previous research has shown that individuals differ in both their number of dopamine receptors and the amount of dopamine they produce, and that these differences may play a critical role in addiction. Zald and his colleagues set out to explore the connection between dopamine receptors and the novelty-seeking personality trait.

“We’ve found that the density of these dopamine autoreceptors is inversely related to an individual’s interest in and desire for novel experiences,” stated David Zald. “The fewer available dopamine autoreceptors an individual has, the less they are able to regulate how much dopamine is released when these cells are engaged. Because of this, novelty and other potentially rewarding experiences that normally induce dopamine release will produce greater dopamine release in these individuals.”

Once you start smoking it is hard to stop because the nicotine contained in tobacco products is so quickly addictive and is even considered to be as addictive as heroin or cocaine.

Why?

When a cigarette is smoked, nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within 7 – 10 seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many neurotransmitters including dopamine (pleasurable feeling).

It is important to note that nicotine is very powerful and poisonous for the nervous system. There is enough (50 mg) in four cigarettes to kill a person within just minutes if it were injected directly into the bloodstream.

The problem is the effects from smoking are short-lived, lasting only a few minutes to a couple of hours. This leads people to smoke throughout the day to dose themselves with this deadly chemical because they want to continue to have whatever positive effects they think they are receiving. Add to this the fact that you can become tolerant to nicotine’s effects — you need to use more and more of it to reach the same degree of stimulation or relaxation — and you can see how people would quickly move from smoking one cigarette to a pack a day habit.

A typical smoker will take 10 draws on a cigarette over a period of 5 minutes. Therefore, a person who smokes about 1-½ packs (30 cigarettes) daily, is getting 300 “hits” of nicotine to the brain each day.