Could electronic cigarettes lead to harder drugs?

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For long it’s been believed that cigarettes are the gateway drug to more addictive substances like alcohol and marijuana which in turn leads to harder drugs like cocaine, heroin, etc. Now researchers believe that like regular cigarettes, e-cigs might also be a gateway drug. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine as the debate about electronic cigarettes heat up.

‘With e-cigarettes, we get rid of the danger to the lungs and to the heart, but no one has mentioned the brain,’ coauthor Dr. Eric Kandel of Columbia University, whose findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said in a telephone interview. Lab studies have shown that rats and mice that are addicted nicotine also get addicted to cocaine and it was true even when the rats received the nicotine directly, similar to an electronic cigarette’s delivery system. These findings expand on his wife and Colombia University researcher Denise Kandel’s earlier work on nicotine as a gateway drug, a theory she first reported in 1975.

‘E-cigarettes have the same physiological effects on the brain and may pose the same risk of addiction to other drugs as regular cigarettes, especially in adolescence during a critical period of brain development,’ they wrote.  Although it is not yet clear whether e-cigarettes will prove to be a gateway to the use of conventional cigarettes and illicit drugs, they said ‘that`s certainly a possibility. Nicotine clearly acts as a gateway drug on the brain, and this effect is likely to occur whether the exposure comes from smoking cigarettes, passive tobacco smoke, or e-cigarettes,’ they wrote.

Electronic cigarettes – boon or bane?

Recently, the WHO has issued a long-awaited report on electronic cigarettes that asks for regulations for the devices and their contents, as well as bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors. The WHO has asked for a range of options including prohibiting e-cigarette makers from making health claims and also to provide ‘convincing supporting scientific evidence and obtain regulatory approval’.

 What are e-cigarettes?

An electronic cigarette is a device that mimics the entire smoking process by producing a mist which has the same sensation (sometimes the same flavour too) of smoking. The concept of an electronic cigarette has been around since the 60s but tobacco consumption wasn’t really considered hazardous back then and it took until 2003 for the first smokeless e-cigarette to hit the market.

Electronic cigarettes manufacturers claim that they are like real cigarettes except that there are no hazardous health implications because there is no combustion, no tobacco and no smoking. Also since there is no passive smoking, second hand smoke and pollution due to butt litter or smoke.

What’s in an e-cig?

The e-cigarette basically consists of three parts: Cartridge, Atomizer and Power supply

The cartridge’s a mouthpiece (like a cigarette’s butt) that usually holds the liquid that is to be vaporized. The atomizer serves as a heating element and vaporizes the liquid and each of them contains a power supply like a chargeable plug, USB drive or batteries.

An e-cigarette produces nicotine infused vapour and though it looks like smoke is actually atomised air. Some e-cigs replace this nicotine vapour with other flavours like vanilla, chocolate, etc. though certain anti-smoking groups feel this could encourage minors to smoke. As a smoking cessation tool some manufactures even look to replicate the flavour of particular brands like Marlboro, Camel, etc.

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Could electronic cigarettes lead to harder drugs?