Smoking The Therapeutics Initiative is at arms length from government and other vested interest groups. Our function is unbiased review and dissemination of therapeutic evidence. We are committed to evaluate the effectiveness of our educational activities using the Pharmacare database without identifying individual physicians, pharmacies or patients. So begins the U.S. clinical practice guideline on smoking cessation.
Every second smoker dies from smoking.
Nicotine is both a stimulant and a relaxant. In just seven seconds, the nicotine from a cigarette binds to the brain's nicotinic receptors after entering the pulmonary circulation and crossing the blood-brain barrier. Thus, nicotine drives the addiction to tobacco. Symptoms of tobacco withdrawal are reliably reversed by nicotine. Experienced drug users, given various drugs, find IV nicotine as satisfying as subcutaneous morphine.