Tobacco additives

[shepj]

hey guys.. I was looking through the list of additives in tobacco products, and I started thinking. I don't know a single person who is addicted to 1) cigars & 2) organic or additive-free tobacco, so it made me wonder, is it really the nicotine that people are addicted to, or is it something else present in the tobacco? Then I thought a little more, and nicotine gum & patches came to my mind.. I realized that even though people are on suped up nicotine doses from these gums/patches, they still crave CIGARETTES, not nicotine.

So I started looking through the additives a little more, and then looking at some common drug syntheses. Now I am not asking for a drug synthesis, but I really think that tobacco products are taking advantage of the additives, the heat caused by burning the tobacco, and the pressure created when inhaling.

So, since I am no where near as well versed as I hope anyone in this ADD section, I only have a simple way to relate what I am trying to say. If any of you are familiar with anabolic steroids, you'd see that after they were made illegal, a nice alternative called prohormones (or prosteroids) came onto the market. These prohormones utilized the body's ability to convert a legal substance into an illegal anabolic steroid... but the conversion was optimized by the body's natural enzymes.

What my question is, is it possible that the additives in nicotine are really just synthesizing a new drug, causing the true addiction to cigarettes and such? I looked at one of the syntheses for amphetamine, and noticed that it is possible to use cinnamaldehyde (not going to elaborate, again this isn't for a synthesis tutorial or for help, just curious). I saw that a lot of chemicals that can be optimized in this reaction for making amphetamine via cinnamaldehyde have similar counterparts (or so it appeared to me) that are also present in cigarettes. So would it be possible to make an analogue of amphetamine (or another phenethylamine) and have the body turn it into a more potent/addictive substance?

All right, so here is a link for the 599 additives in cigarettes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_additives_in_cigarettes, yet they claim that there are FOUR THOUSAND active chemicals in cigarette smoke! Can someone please tell me if my idea is plausible.

Thanks,
jeremy

 

[shibireru]

While we're on the topic of addiction, let me interject that I believe someone may be addicted to tinfoil.

Edit: Yes, it is possible. So very unlikely, though. We should expect that, if cigarette smokers were addicted to something other than nicotine, nicotine patches wouldn't mitigate the unpleasantness of cigarette withdrawals any better than placebo. And for what an incredibly small sample size is worth for drawing sound conclusions, I know several people who are addicted to cigars.

 

[jwinkulheimer]

Pipe and cigar smokers do not inhale the same way cig smokers do. They smoke for the exotic flavors, and the smoke goes mostly thru the mouth and nose. Cig smokers on the other hand, inhale as deeply as possible into the lungs, to get that nicotine buzz. Also, ask anyone who uses snuss or chewing tobacco, it is just as addictive as cigarettes. Myth Busted.

 

[immad]

The use of tobacco also inhibits MAO to a certain degree, which'll boost monoamine levels and as such will be addictive.

 

[theWorldWithin]

The use of tobacco also inhibits MAO to a certain degree, which'll boost monoamine levels and as such will be addictive.

Yeah I think this is a major factor and the only reason why I continue to smoke when I am fucked up, its a great potentiator.

The cigar smoker example is a pretty decent argument actually when one considers just how much more nicotine is deliver from smoking a cigar versus a cigarette. Now speed of onset is a major factor which the cigarettes has on its side but the relatively small number of cigar addicts should not immediately be dismissed. After all nicotine is most definitely addictive so that could easily explain cigar addicts, but in no way does it invalidate the hypothesis that cigarettes are more addictive beyond the quicker onset of a smaller amount of nicotine. Personally I find it plausible that other compounds are active and can add to the addictiveness of nicotine however I doubt it is being converted to an amphetamine via a pyrolysis reaction if that is even what the OP was suggesting.

 

[Lost and Confused]

Just like a lot of heroin addicts are addicted to the needle...cigarette smokers develop an oral fixation.

I know a few people who have quit by way of nicotine patches...but they still can't get the toothpick outta their mouth.

 

[shepj]

Pipe and cigar smokers do not inhale the same way cig smokers do. They smoke for the exotic flavors, and the smoke goes mostly thru the mouth and nose. Cig smokers on the other hand, inhale as deeply as possible into the lungs, to get that nicotine buzz. Also, ask anyone who uses snuss or chewing tobacco, it is just as addictive as cigarettes. Myth Busted.

I sure as fuck inhale them and clear the smoke.. but find no addictive feelings unlike cigarettes. There has to be a difference in the two.

I appreciate the input so far, thank you to all of you.

 

[Tsukasa]

Other psychoactive stuff present in tobacco smoke to my knowledge include beta-carbolines (MAOaI), nitrous oxide, myristicin, chloroform, and carbon dioxide.

 

[robatussin]

how is carbon dioxide addictive or psychoactive? With that logic H2O is as addictive as anything I can think of

 

[Tsukasa]

^ It would be like carbogen. You're depriving yourself of oxygen, while increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide in your lungs. Kind of like hyper-ventilating.

 

[splenda]

I think the behavior that comes along with cigarette smoking makes cigarettes very reinforcing.

For example, I can remember the places in the past that I've smoked a cigarette and whenever I'm near them I get cravings for cigarettes.

Place-preference based addiction anyone?

 

[monstanoodle]

Just like a lot of heroin addicts are addicted to the needle...cigarette smokers develop an oral fixation.

I know a few people who have quit by way of nicotine patches...but they still can't get the toothpick outta their mouth.

That's one of the major things for me.
The feeling of smoke going into your lungs becomes just as pleasurable as... well, I would say the Nicotine, but overall it's not really that pleasurable.
Addiction to the substance usually incorporates the whole process of intake into it aswell. As L&C pointed out, IV users will still IV regardless of if there's any of their DOC in the rig.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Tobbaccos pharmalogical effects dont just come from nicotine. Tobbacco contains a weak MAOI and im ot positive but guessing other alkaloids that would change the effects just so but in a significant way. Also, the fastest and biggest rush of nicotine will come from smoking it, what some smokers refer to as the "headrush".


This starts very soon after inhaling and peak nicotine concentrations are reached about 5 minutes aftere inhaling. Almost all of it is gone by 30 minutes.


This adds to nicotines/tobbaccos addictiveness by a very long margin. A patch, gum, or spray just doesn't get the user to what they were used to.

That said I've definitely heard and strongly suspect that other chemicals are weaved into commercial tobbacco that add to its strong addictiveness. What they are I can only imagine, but they sure cant be healthy.

I've also read numerous accounts of organic tobbacco smokers that say they often go days at a time without lighting up.

This is an interesting thread and any more expertise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[immad]

Iirc I read somewhere that in cigarettes the nicotine is freebased, so more end up being used instead of being burned. Just like powder cocaine vs crack.

 

[Rectify]

um, don't smoke tobacco?

it naturally contains certain nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens.

 

[Tsukasa]

^ It has waaaay more carcinogens than just nitrosamines. Radioactive shit too like polonium.

 

[Captain.Heroin]

I think the behavior that comes along with cigarette smoking makes cigarettes very reinforcing.

For example, I can remember the places in the past that I've smoked a cigarette and whenever I'm near them I get cravings for cigarettes.

Place-preference based addiction anyone?

That's called environmental tolerance, and in the greater sense, conditioning with exogenous cues.

 

[vecktor]

um, don't smoke tobacco?

it naturally contains certain nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens.

so does german sausage, and most bacon. don't get me started on acrylamide in french fries. It could be argued though that tobacco doesn't contain Nitosoamines until burnt. nicotine itself forms an nitrosocompound in vivo, a compound suspected of causing bladder cancer, the formation of that doesn't require smoking.
though I agree smoking plant material in general is a problem.

 

[Frankie_Gee]

I'm glad I read this post, because I quit smoking about 5 months ago. i cant tell you all how much better I feel, it's amazing. The decrease of health risks greatly outweighs any of the so called benefits that smoking gave me. People look at me and tell me how much better I look since i quit smoking. That feeling of being healthy again, is priceless in my opinion, and reading this post further makes me NOT want to light up again. TY guys for your research.

 

[Riemann Zeta]

I've known cigar and shisha (hookah) smokers that were most certainly addicted to nicotine, so cigarettes are not the only form in which the compound is addictive. It is true, however, that American mainstream cigarette manufactures treat their tobacco with hydroxides (or other bases) to increase the quantity of freebase nicotine, hence increasing the amount of nicotine consumed per puff by smokers. Similarly, menthol was devised as an additive to decrease the harshness of the smoke, helping to ensure people take deeper, longer drags, thus increasing their nicotine exposure. Cigarette makers were truly genius drug dealers long before people realized it.

Of course, the behavioral ritual of smoking is also a huge factor (if you smoke during breaks, then you quickly become conditioned to associate fixed-interval nicotine intake with relaxation and reprieve from work).