The latest generation of devices poses a particularly high risk of addiction. The producers have accelerated the flood of nicotine when using the “devices”, warned Munich psychiatrist Tobias Rüther at the annual congress of lung specialists in Mannheim.
“Smokers don’t smoke because of the tobacco, but because of the nicotine,” emphasized Rüther. It is the addictive substance with the most addictive potential. Nicotine reaches the brain just 20 seconds following inhaling. There the dopamine-dependent reward system is activated. After an hour and a half at the latest, the urge to use nicotine arises once more. The first five minutes of using the vaporizer are particularly crucial for the development of dependence. Rüther and his colleagues also analyzed users’ inhalation rituals. Video recordings showed that e-cigarettes were smoked for longer and were used more often and at shorter intervals.
According to Rüther, the e-cigarette is changing: “The new nicotine products are increasingly being tailored to a high nicotine release.” The liquids used also contain nicotine salts, which “pop particularly well”.
