Addictive? Thats absurd!

Nicotine, we are raised from kindergarten to adulthood to know that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances out there and to stay away from it. Once you have that first cigarette it's hard to go back they say, obviously what they say is true but what effects does nicotine have on smokers? or even non-smokers? According to the News Medical Net nicotine can enhance concentration and memory due to the increase of acetylcholine; Wait! did I just say that cigarettes can be helpful to you?! Yes it is true that at low doses nicotne can boost the actions of norepinephrine and dopamine which acts as a stimulant on your brain. On the other end of the spectrum, in higher doses nicotine will act as a sedative and help to easy any pain.
Looking at the photo to the right will show us that nicotine will stimulate the receptors in your brain making you act, feel, and think differently, but why is this so bad? The News Medical Net relates to the next website I stumbled upon by showing facts about effects of nicotine on not only the body and mind but also the brain itself, specifically the receptors that receives neurotransmitters sent to them.

After gathering information from  Why Quit.com, I have come to realize that it's not the nicotine itself that is addictive, but the actual cigarette and all of the    chemicals inside. Imagine it like a harmless person walking alone doing no harm, but the second it jumps into a car with deadly people it can have dangerous consequences. So is it bad for you or good for you? All of this talk about cigarettes making your receptors and brain function abnormally makes me begin to think about why it is frowned upon by some people, but others take it just fine? This topic is proving to be controversial yet so interesting, we have the answers, statistics, and evidence right in front of us yet people are still huffing and puffing away. I will however, be searching for articles or books written by doctors or ex smokers to get a different standpoint rather than trusting the sources I have been finding on the web.

Photo Credit: http://whyquit.com/whyquit/linksaaddiction.html