Tobacco changes the chemistry of your brain and makes you crave whatever your drug of choice is

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/uog-ttd110315.php

Public Release: 3-Nov-2015
Teen tobacco dependence should be treated with 'same urgency as other drugs,' study says
University of Georgia

Substance abuse treatments that target main issues such as serious drug and alcohol addiction are not frequently being used to also wean adolescents from tobacco, a University of Georgia study finds.

Tobacco addiction in adolescents is oftentimes an overlooked issue because it doesn't carry with it the stigma that alcohol abuse and other serious drugs do, according to the study's lead author, Jessica Muilenburg, an associate professor at UGA's College of Public Health and health promotion and behavior graduate coordinator.

What most don't realize is that tobacco, she said, "changes the chemistry of your brain and makes you crave whatever your drug of choice is, which is why kicking the tobacco habit with the rest of your addictions is important.

"It's a drug, but it's not treated in the same capacity and with the same urgency as other drugs. We are saying to treat it with the same urgency, because relapse is less likely if you treat the nicotine as well."

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