Experts tell DM.com ultra-concentrated hit of nicotine makes vape devices WORSE than cigarettes

Vaping is the tobacco equivalent of crack cocaine, experts warned as the devices will begin to replace cigarettes in the coming years.

Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, compared the intense but transient intoxication that comes from inhaling an e-cigarette to smoking crack cocaine.

Meanwhile, Dr. Francesca Filbey, a neuroscientist who specializes in addiction at the University of Texas, said the turbocharged but short-lived effects of vaping nicotine amplify the desire to inhale more.

Although vapes contain only a fraction of the harmful chemicals of tobacco, they are much more efficient at delivering a nicotine hit.

A puff of an e-cigarette provides an instant head rush with similar effects to harder drugs such as cocaine, flooding the brain with the feel-good chemical dopamine. This encourages users to want more, which promotes addiction.

Regular users of some of the most popular types of e-cigarettes consume more nicotine than smokers of traditional cigarettes

Dr. Filbey told DailyMail.com, “People who smoke anything, including nicotine, get that feeling of pleasure much faster, so the rewarding effects would be almost immediate.”

“They are similar in terms of their effects on what we call the final common pathway of how drugs affect the mesolimbic areas of the brain.”

And Dr. Sean. Luo, an addiction psychiatrist based in New York City, told DailyMail.com, “The dynamics of [using] nicotine, whether from vaping or tobacco, appears to be similar to other substances released by inhalation or insufflation.”

The sentiment was echoed by Dr. Huberman, who said on his popular podcast that nicotine and cocaine both induce a psychoactive kick within minutes.

Dr. Huberman said: ‘Both crack cocaine and vaping cause a very rapid increase in the relative substances that are psychoactive.

“In the case of cocaine, that’s cocaine and the increase in dopamine in the brain and body.

“And in the case of vaping, there is a very rapid rise in blood concentrations of nicotine, much faster than with cigarette smoking.”

Although the substances vary greatly, smoking crack cocaine and vaping cause a rapid rush of dopamine in the midbrain.

This is associated with reward and motivation, producing the coveted buzz or high.

The effects of nicotine are intense but short-lived, and spikes of dopamine teach the brain to seek out unhealthy stimuli to get the feel-good chemical fix over and over again.

The ease of use of vaping and the lack of acrid smoke left behind reinforces the idea that vaping is a less offensive and even healthier alternative to cigarettes.

Combined with an increase in fruity and minty flavors that attracted a younger market turning away from cigarettes, vaping has exploded in popularity in recent years, even overtaking cigarette use in the US.

Federal data from this week showed that the number of adults who smoke cigarettes has fallen to an all-time low of 11 percent, or about one in nine people.

At the same time, the use of electronic cigarettes continues to rise, reaching about 6 percent of adults, or 1 in 17.

The primary neurochemical at play when nicotine hits the brain is dopamine.

This neurotransmitter originates in the midbrain and causes the euphoric effects a person feels after taking some drugs.

The sense of pleasure that accompanies the release of dopamine is the brain’s way of identifying and reinforcing beneficial, healthy behaviors.

This is why a person feels good when they eat delicious food, have sex, exercise well, and spend time with friends and family.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of adults smoking cigarettes has fallen to an all-time low of 11 percent

The change in America’s smoking habits is largely driven by younger Americans, who used to be the biggest cigarette smokers but have gradually become some of the least likely people to smoke

More than 2.5 million American children use e-cigarettes – half a million more than last year and a reversal of the downward trend of recent years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 2.55 million Americans in middle or high school admit to using the device in the past 30 days. It’s a jump of 500,000, or 24 percent, from 2021. It’s the first increase since the CDC began collecting annual data in 2019.

Every time that dose of dopamine hits, the brain remembers it for the next time, hoping for more of the reward.

However, behaviors that trigger a natural dopamine release, such as eating ice cream or sharing a first kiss, don’t have the same dopaminergic rush as using drugs.

The difference between natural and drug rewards can be compared to hearing a soft whisper next to your ear versus a scream bellowing through a microphone.

When nicotine is inhaled via a vapor, it is quickly absorbed through the blood vessels lining the lungs and reaches the brain in about 10 seconds.

Once in the brain, nicotine binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which signal the brain to release dopamine.

Drugs like crack cocaine – and to a lesser extent nicotine – hijack the brain’s complicated reward pathways by tricking it into believing they need those substances to feel pleasure.

Repeated use of drugs reinforces that thinking, leading to the development of an addiction.

After a relatively short high or intoxication from cocaine or nicotine, respectively, dopamine levels in the brain drop, causing feelings of depression.

As the addiction takes over, the user of the drug needs more and more to reach the same level of “high” that got them hooked in the first place.

But over time and prolonged use, the brain’s circuitry adapts to increasing concentrations of a dopamine-releasing substance, such as nicotine or cocaine.

The brain decreases its sensitivity to dopamine, resulting in a less satisfying high from taking the drug, known as tolerance.