Cigarettes are highly addictive, so why are they legal?

Did you know that approximately 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced globally each year and are smoked by over 1.1 billion people or greater than one-sixth of the world population?

So why do they do it?

The physiology reason...

The inhaled substances trigger chemical reactions in nerve endings.The cholinergic receptors are often triggered by the naturally occurring substance acetylcholine. Acetylcholine and Nicotine express chemical similarities, which allows Nicotine to tigger the receptor as well. These nicotinc acetylcholine receptors takes part in two major types of neurotransmission, synaptic transmisson and paracrine signalling.This activity increases heart rate, memory, alertness,and produces a measurably faster reaction time after individuals have smoked. Dopamine and later endorphins are released, which are associated with sensations of pleasure and reward.

When tobacco is smoked, most of the nicotine is pyrolyzed. However, a dose sufficient to cause mild somatic dependency and mild to strong psychological dependency remains. There is also a formation of harmane (a MAO inhibitor) from the acetaldehyde in tobacco smoke. This seems to play an important role in nicotine addiction—probably by facilitating a dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens as a response to nicotine stimuli.

The Psychological reason...

The majority of cigarette smokers start when they are young. Often because of the stigma of smoking cigarettes is cool and has the elements of risk-taking and rebellion. Most often teenagers are influenced more by their peers than by adults; this means that the attempts to educate the hazards of cigarette smoking from health professionals, parents and