Tobacco and Caffeine

In this section, we discuss two of the most common stimulant drugs--nicotine and caffeine.  Nicotine is found mostly in tobacco products, but with the emphasis these days on smoking cessation, nicotine is also found in products such as gum and patches. These products are intended to help people decrease their nicotine intake gradually during the process of tobacco cessation. Caffeine is most commonly found in coffee, tea, and cola drinks, but also exists to a small degree in chocolate. Energy drinks have been produced over the past several years that incorporate a high level of caffeine.  Nicotine is available only to adults but caffeine is consumed by everyone, including children, making it the most widely used stimulant in existance.

 

Caffeine  Caffeine is found naturally in coffee beans, tea leaves, and cocoa.  The caffeine added to cola drinks is typically extracted from kola nuts.  Coffee beans were likely eaten during the Paleolithic period long before they were roasted, ground, and extracted with hot water to produce a beverage. Coffee was first consumed in current Arabic territories around A.D. 1000.  Tea beverages originated in China about 2700 B.C. or even earlier.  Bitter, unsweetened chocolate drinks were already favored by Montezuma's Aztec nation when the Spanish arrived in the 1500s.  Similar concoctions were subsequently consumed in Europe, but thanks to Swiss nuns, were eventually converted to palatable sweet beverages and related confections in the late 1800s.  Modern cola beverages are likewise introductions of the late 1800s-early 1900s.

 

Coffee was initally used to facilitate staying awake during long religious events and to allow study during the cool nighttime.  Caffeine does not produce true euphoria, but it does produce psychological dependence, increased alertness, and improved motor and mental performance. Other physical effects are increased heart rate and blood pressure, dilation of airways, and diuresis (increased urine volume).  Very high caffeine intake can trigger irritability, anxiety, and depression, and toxic effects include extreme agitation, and even convulsions. Mild withdrawal (lethargy, irritability, headache) can occur with prolonged intake of 6 or more cups of coffee per day. The adverse health effects associated with caffeine include small increases in blood cholesterol, risk of cardiovascular disease, and a risk of reproductive abnormalities

 

Average daily intake of caffeine in the U.S. is 300 milligrams or less.  This is the equivalent of 2-3 average strength cups of coffee, 6-8 cups of tea, 5-10 twelve ounce colas, or 9-10 cups of hot chocolate.  The level of consumption is similar in Western Europe, but averages about 50 milligrams daily in other parts of the world.  .

For more information related to caffeine, see http://www.medicinenet.com/caffeine/article.htm or http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/drugs/caffeine.html.

 

Nicotine and Tobacco    Nicotine is the main active drug in plants of the species Nicotiana.  It is a potent poison that can cause death.  Nevertheless, use of nicotine is second only to use of caffeine.  Nicotine is considered a gateway drug that may cause some adolescents to abuse alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs.

 

Nicotiana tabacum and Nicotiana rustica are indigenous to South and North America, respectively.  Both were cultivated by native populations, who smoked the leaves in various rituals for many centuries before the arrival of Columbus in North America and the presence of Spanish explorers in Central and South America.  Leaf extracts from both plants were also used to kill parasites on and in the body; nicotine is used even today as an insecticide.

 

Both tabacum and tobacco come from the name for a hollow reed used by Native Americans to inhale smoke. Pipes were initially the main instruments for tobacco smoking, followed by cigars and later, cigarettes.  Other methods for obtaining nicotine are inhalation of snuff (a fermented, fine tobacco powder) and tobacco chewing.  Cigarettes became popular in the 20th century, and have contributed disproportionately to nicotine use and dependence, and to smoking-related disease.  The first Surgeon General's Report, issued in 1968, evidenced a correlation between smoking and increased disease and death rates.  However, Civil War soldiers were among the first to refer to cigarettes as coffin nails, long before the correlation was made.

 

Nicotine affects all major systems of the body, but is used mainly for its acute stimulant effects on the central nervous system.  The desired effects include pleasure, increased alertness, improved mental function and task performance, decreased anxiety, and decreased appetite.  Nicotine increases the amount of dopamine in the brain and thus reinforces its own use, like other drugs of abuse.

 

Since nicotine is commonly obtained from the smoke of burning dried Nicotiana tabacum leaves, other compounds in the smoke such as acetaldehyde, may increase nicotine's effects.  Nonsmokers also absorb measurable amounts of nicotine and other materials from environmental tobacco smoke and may show negative health effects as a result.

 

Nicotine is currently used in several forms as an aid to stop smoking. Sudden smoking cessation causes withdrawal symptoms in almost all regular smokers who smoke 15 or more cigarettes per day.  The withdrawal symptoms include irritability, sleepiness, hunger, anxiety, and cigarette craving.  Short term, regulated nicotine use through gum or a patch may limit these symptoms and allow the individual to follow through with the commitment to stop using tobacco.

 

Cancers of the lungs, mouth, and throat occur significantly more often in smokers.  In fact, certain types of lung cancers occur almost exclusively in smokers.  Cancer in other areas is also increased by smoking, including breast, liver/intestines, and the prostate. 

 

Smoking also has adverse effects on females, developing babies, and children.  Babies of smokers are smaller than babies of nonsmokers at all stages of development; these babies are also more frequently premature.  Females may experience menopause earlier and increase their risk of bone thinning.  Children may experience increased allergy symptoms and incidence of respiratory problems when exposed to tobacco smoke.  Children of smoking parents also have higher ear-infection rates.  Environmental Tobacco Smoke has been listed as the second highest preventable cause of disease, after smoking itself.

 

People diagnosed with mental illness tend to smoke at a higher percentage than the rest of the population.  There are various reasons for this, and various effects that the smoking has on the mental illness itself. For more information on how tobacco use and mental illness are related, please see Tobacco Use and Mental Health.

For more information about nicotine, go to http://www.drugs.com/nicotine.html or http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_nicotine1.php.