Authors: Reuven Dar Rachel Kaplan Lior Shaham Hanan Frenk
Publish Date: 2007/01/19
Volume: 191, Issue: 2, Pages: 203-210
Abstract
The claim that nicotine in cigarettes is euphoriant to smokers is largely based on two studies Pomerleau and Pomerleau Psychopharmacology 108460–465 1992 Tobacco Control 3374 1994 in which smokers were instructed to respond to sensations of rush buzz or high while smoking lownicotine or regular cigarettes However the assumption that these sensations are pleasurable was not tested and may have biased the resultsStudy 1 surveyed the frequency and pleasantness of the smokingrelated sensations of rush buzz and high in a sample of smokers Study 2 replicated Pomerleau and Pomerleau Psychopharmacology 108460–465 1992 with two sets of instruction One set as in the original study defined these sensations as pleasurable whereas the other defined them as unpleasantStudy 1 found that whereas rush and high were perceived as pleasant buzz was unpleasant to most smokers Study 2 found that under both sets of instructions smokers reported more sensations when smoking the regular as compared to the lownicotine cigarette Additionally the sensations of rush buzz and high were rated as more pleasant under the pleasant instructions as compared to the unpleasant instructions Finally in the pleasant instructions condition many participants reported having pressed the button to indicate a pleasurable sensation despite having actually experienced that sensation as unpleasantOur results suggest that the findings of Pomerleau and Pomerleau Psychopharmacology 108460–465 1992 Tobacco Control 3374 1994 may have been biased by the experimental instructions and cannot be taken as evidence that smoked nicotine is euphoriant to smokers
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