Winston was introduced in 1954 and became the first nationally popular filtered cigarette. By 1966, Winston became the best-selling cigarette in the nation, a position it held for 10 years. Today, Winston remains one of the country's top-10 cigarette brands. Winston's "Leave the Bull Behind" attitude is backed by its unique, additive-free product point-of-difference – smooth tobacco taste.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Nicotine : Psychoactive effects

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Nicotine's mood-altering effects are different by report. First causing a release of glucose from the liver and epinephrine (adrenaline) from the adrenal medulla, it causes stimulation. Users report feelings of relaxation, calmness, and alertness. It is even reported to produce a mildly euphoric state. By reducing the appetite and raising the metabolism, some smokers may lose weight as a consequence. It also allows the mouth to be stimulated without food, and the taste of tobacco smoke may curb the appetite.

When a cigarette is smoked, nicotine-rich blood passes from the lungs to the brain within seven seconds and immediately stimulates the release of many chemical messengers including acetylcholine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, vasopressin, arginine, dopamine, and beta-endorphin. This results in enhanced pleasure, decreased anxiety, and a state of alert relaxation. Nicotine enhances concentration and learning due to the increase of acetylcholine. It also enhances alertness due to the increases of acetylcholine and norepinephrine. Arousal is increased by the increase of norepinephrine. Pain is reduced by the increases of acetylcholine and beta-endorphin. Anxiety is reduced by the increase of beta-endorphin. The effects of nicotine last from five minutes to two hours. Most cigarettes (in the smoke inhaled) contain 0.1 to 2.8 milligrams of nicotine.

Research suggests that, when smokers wish to achieve a stimulating effect, they take short quick puffs, which produce a low level of blood nicotine. This stimulates nerve transmission. When they wish to relax, they take deep puffs, which produce a high level of blood nicotine, which depresses the passage of nerve impulses, producing a mild sedative effect. At low doses, nicotine potently enhances the actions of norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, causing a drug effect typical of those of psychostimulants. At higher doses, nicotine enhances the effect of serotonin and opiate activity, producing a calming, pain-killing effect. Nicotine is unique in comparison to most drugs, as its profile changes from stimulant to sedative/pain killer in increasing dosages and use.

A 21 mg patch applied to the left arm
Nicotine gum and nicotine patches are available, usually in 2-mg or 4-mg doses of gum, that do not have all the other ingredients in smoked tobacco. They appear to be not as addictive or as pleasurable, and, it is claimed, have fewer side-effects. Whether all the other psychoactive effects also occur has not been well-studied.

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