Clinical research is needed to understand how cigarette toxicant yield affects smoker toxicant exposure. While there is much clinical research on yield and exposure in developed countries, there is little in developing countries. Forty smokers completed one, 4-hour session to compare yield and exposure of different cigarettes. Participants smoked three cigarettes under controlled topography conditions: one U.S. 111 flavor, one U.S. ultra light, and one Syrian cigarette, with 90 minutes between cigarettes. Sessions differed by Syrian brand; 21 participants smoked Alhamraa while 19 smoked A1 Sham cigarettes. Blood nicotine and breath CO samples were obtained, HR was monitored and subjective withdrawal and cigarette effect questions were asked. Results suggest that Syrian Alhamraa and U.S. full flavor were similar in exposure while Syrian A1 Sham and U.S. ultra light were similar. Though U.S. full flavor and ultra light cigarettes differed in toxicant yield and exposure, subjective ratings of withdrawal were similar.

Drugs seem to be really hot topic discussed especially at high schools. Not only the particular drug addicted person but also the entire society and even the state have to face to many risks. School institutions should become one of the places where the primary steps of prevention should be implemented. In order to prepare proper topics and themes for discussions and meetings against drug use, it is important to know which drugs are used and preferred by young Prague citizens. The main aim of this thesis is to map the real situation that exists in the area of drug us in Prague. That is why a survey - based on a questionnaire - was carried out to gather the data to be able to analyze the differences that exist among the students of high schools, especially grammar schools and vocational schools as well as the boys and girls. The theoretical part of the thesis is focused on detailed information about particular drugs and mapping of the situation that exists in this area in Poland, Austria, Slovakia and Germany. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

Nicotine was not included in previous efforts to identify the most important toxicants of tobacco smoke. A health risk assessment of nicotine for smokers of cigarettes was conducted using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach and results were compared to literature MOEs of various other tobacco toxicants. The MOE is defined as ratio between toxicological threshold (benchmark dose) and estimated human intake. Dose-response modelling of human and animal data was used to derive the benchmark dose. The MOE was calculated using probabilistic Monte Carlo simulations for daily cigarette smokers. Benchmark dose values ranged from 0.004 mg/kg bodyweight for symptoms of intoxication in children to 3 mg/kg bodyweight for mortality in animals; MOEs ranged from below 1 up to 7.6 indicating a considerable consumer risk. The dimension of the MOEs is similar to those of other tobacco toxicants with high concerns relating to adverse health effects such as acrolein or formaldehyde. Owing to the lack of toxicological data in particular relating to cancer, long term animal testing studies for nicotine are urgently necessary. There is immediate need of action concerning the risk of nicotine also with regard to electronic cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

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Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) are a class of tobacco products that use a heating element to aerosolize a liquid, typically containing nicotine, allowing for user inhalation. Despite their rapid growth in popularity, little is known about ECIGs including how certain device and liquid factors influence nicotine delivery, user physiological and subjective responses, and puffing behavior (puff topography). Limited pre-clinical research has demonstrated that the ratio of two solvents commonly found in ECIG liquids, propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG), may have an influence on the nicotine content of ECIG aerosols. However, the extent to which PG:VG ratio in ECIG liquids influences acute effects experienced by ECIG users is unknown. The primary purpose of this clinical laboratory study was to examine the influence of PG:VG ratio on plasma nicotine concentration, heart rate (HR), subjective effects, and puff topography in experienced ECIG users. Thirty ECIG-experienced individuals participated in four independent laboratory conditions that differed only by the PG:VG ratio in the ECIG liquid (100:0, 55:45, 20:80, and 2:98). In each condition, participants used a 3.3 volt “eGo” ECIG battery attached to a 1.5 Ohm dual coil “cartomizer” loaded with 1 ml of ECIG liquid (nicotine concentration: 18 mg/ml). Participants completed two ECIG use bouts (10 puffs with 30 sec inter-puff-interval) in each study condition. ECIG PG:VG ratio had a direct influence on nicotine delivery, subjective effects, and puff topography. Nicotine delivery and overall nicotine intake were highest following the use of the liquids containing mostly PG, despite participants taking significantly shorter and smaller puffs in these conditions, suggesting PG may be a more efficient nicotine-delivery vehicle than VG. Abstinence symptoms were suppressed similarly across all PG:VG ratios, and HR also increased in a similar fashion in all conditions following ECIG use. Participants reported significantly lower scores on items assessing sensory ECIG effects following use of the 100PG:0VG liquid, indicating a lower overall satisfaction with this liquid. Further evaluating the influence of PG and VG and other ECIG device and liquid characteristics on ECIG acute effects using clinical laboratory methodologies could inform regulations of these products.

In Mississippi, approximately 4,700 deaths are caused by smoking and approximately 3,500 young Mississippians begin smoking each year. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers start smoking by age 18, and 99% start by age 26. Because of the early age of initiation, policy changes and other initiatives that affect smoking rates among youth are of particular interest, including tax increases. In 2009, Mississippi increased its state excise tax on tobacco from $.18 to $.68 per pack which was in addition to the federal tax increase to $1.0066 (an increase of $.6166 from the previous amount of $.39). This study examined the effect of Mississippi's tobacco tax increase on youth smoking initiation and tobacco consumption behavior using difference-in-difference analysis. Using the SmartTrackTM School Survey this study analyzed changes in youth who reported ever smoking and their recent consumption from the three years prior to the tax increase to the three years following it using data from the Louisiana Caring Communities Youth Survey as the control group since Louisiana did not experienced a state-level cigarette tax increase during this period. The analysis showed mixed results for a statistically significant difference in smoking initiation (ever smoked cigarettes) rates, and moderately supported the hypothesis of past 30 day youth smoking rates being reduced by the tax increase on cigarettes in Mississippi. While youth smoking rates declined significantly during the study period, the difference-in-difference analysis of youth who reported ever smoking showed only a small but statistically significant effect across all grades, but had a notable impact on 6th graders. The analysis of past 30 day use showed no short term effect on Mississippi youth in the year after the 2009 tax increase, but difference-in-difference comparisons showed a moderate and statistically significant impact on those rates the longer term. The results of this study will be of interest to scholars, policymakers, and tobacco control advocates as they make decisions about whether to increase state level taxes on cigarettes to prevent smoking initiation and curb youth tobacco use. / acase@tulane.edu

<p>My essay explores the public view on smoking in Sweden over the last few decades. I've studied how changes in social structures through media, laws, studies and education has brought about a change in the opinions about smoking. I found that even though there have always been different opinions on smoking it seems to have become less accepted in the Swedish society, particularly in the past twenty years. I discuss the different reason as to why (and how) the view on smoking might have changed the last decades amongst the Swedish people. To be able to do this I have done interviews on which I have applied narrative analysis.</p>

Health risk behaviors are responsible for the majority of morbidity and mortality among adolescents. Researchers have identified three sources of risk-taking in adolescents – dispositional, ecological and biological. The Bioecological Model incorporates these three sources of risk-taking, however it lacks explanatory power. For this reason, this thesis focused on explaining risk perception of health risk behaviors (smoking cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use), and health risk behaviors by integrating the Bioecological Model with a more specific Health Belief Model. The relationship between risk perception and health risk behavior was also investigated as a first step in understanding adolescent decision-making using the Health Belief Model. Adolescents from a suburban Indiana area were asked to complete the Adolescent Health Risk Behavior Survey which assessed egocentrism, self-esteem, social norms, risk perceptions, and the incidence and prevalence of health endangering behaviors. Hierarchical linear regression was used to determine the ability of the systems in the Bioecological Model and their specific variables to explain risk perception of health risk behaviors. Hierarchical logistic regression was used to determine the ability of the systems in the Bioecological Model and their specific variables to explain health risk behaviors and to moderate the relationships between risk perception and health risk behaviors. Based on the results, it was confirmed that the Bioecological Model is important in understanding adolescent’s risk perception of health risk behaviors, and their self-reported health risk behaviors. It is also important in understanding the relationship between risk perception and health risk behaviors. Adolescent Variables, Microsystem, and Mesosystem were significant in predicting adolescent risk perception of all health risk behaviors examined, and self-reported smoking cigarette behavior and marijuana use. Adolescent variables and Microsystem were the only systems to predict adolescent self-reported alcohol use. The relationship between risk perception and reported smoking cigarette behavior was moderated by Adolescent Variables, Microsystem and Mesosystem, however for alcohol use the path was moderated by Adolescent Variables and for marijuana use the path was moderated by the Mesosytem. Results of this thesis imply the importance of considering the contribution of Bioecological Model variables when implementing prevention intervention programs specific to adolescent health risk behaviors.

Most treatments for substance use disorders (SUDs) are based on a model that craving is a primary cause of relapse, and therefore they emphasize skills for preventing and reducing craving. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provides a theoretical rationale for "acceptance" of drug-related thoughts and cravings, and proscribes suppression, a more intuitive and commonly used coping strategy. However, it remains largely unknown whether various coping strategies differentially affect craving intensity, drug use behavior, or other relevant outcomes during a craving episode. Using a randomized, between-subjects design (acceptance-based coping, suppression-based coping, or no coping instructions/control), the current study compared the effect of acceptance versus suppression of cigarette craving on outcomes including craving intensity, affect, self-control (i.e., stamina on a physically challenging task), and number of thoughts about smoking in the laboratory, and smoking behavior and self-efficacy for cessation during a 3-day follow-up period. Contrary to the hypothesis that acceptance would be superior to suppression, results indicated that both strategies were associated with reduced craving intensity, decreased negative affect, and increased positive affect in the laboratory, and greater self-efficacy for cessation at 3-day follow-up, compared to the control group. There were no significant differences across groups in smoking behavior during the 3-day follow-up. Exploratory moderation analyses that must be interpreted cautiously suggested that the effects of acceptance and suppression on craving and affect may vary according to smoking rate and level of nicotine dependence. Overall, this study provides support for the value of acceptance-based coping strategies, but also suggests that more research is needed to differentiate their benefits compared to suppression-based coping.

Past research has highlighted the importance of better understanding the high rate of smoking among individuals exposed to trauma. However, few studies have investigated the cognitive mechanisms that may contribute to the smoking-trauma relationship. The primary goal of the present study was to examine the associative relationship between smoking and trauma at a cognitive level, by examining the extent to which trauma-relevant pictures primed attentional biases to smoking-related words on a modified Stroop task. Eighty trauma-exposed smokers (classified as having low, medium, or high levels of post trauma symptomatology) ink-named smoking-related and neutral words after being primed with trauma-related, positive, or neutral picture cues. Although participants did not display an overall significant difference in reaction time between smoking words and neutral words, we found a significant prime x word type interaction, with slower reaction time to smoking words after being primed by trauma-related pictures. In addition, we found a significant 3-way interaction between symptom severity level, prime category, and target type. Further analyses revealed that the prime x word type interaction was significant only among individuals with the lowest and highest levels of PTSD symptomatology. A secondary aim of the study was to evaluate the relationship between smoking-related variables and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms on a dimensional range. We found that participants who were more severely impaired at the time of the study were more likely to report strong cravings to smoke. Overall, findings suggest that smokers who have experienced trauma exhibit an attentional bias to smoking words when primed with trauma-related picture, and that post-trauma symptoms are related to smoking motivation. Implications for treatment are discussed.