582 



Dr. Kessler testified that nicotine contained in cigarette smoke releases a certain 

 chemical (dopamine) in the "pleasure centers" of the brain, resulting in similar effects as 

 addicting drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Dr. Kessler failed to acknowledge that many 

 different pleasurable and not so pleasurable experiences and activities also result in the 

 release of dopamine in these "pleasure centers". Once again, the attempted analogy 

 becomes meaningless when viewed objectively and without blinders. Dopamine release is 

 one part of the neurochemical response to both pain and pleasure. It will occur if one 

 receives an electric shock or slap in the face and also occurs in response to pleasant 

 experiences of all kinds. Attempting to mystify a basic physical reaction and implying that 

 it only occurs with addicting drugs is misleading at best. 



3. Reinforcing behavior . Dr. Kessler's third criterion, reinforcing behavior, 

 provides yet another example of the attempt to invest commonplace concepts with scientific 

 mystique, combined with an erroneous implication that the condition only occurs with 

 addicting drugs. Such is not the case. As presented in the 1988 Surgeon General's Report, 

 reinforcing behavior merely refers to the fact that a pleasant experience will likely be 

 repeated, whether it involves a chemical or activity.^' Dr. Kessler cites two lines of 

 evidence as support for his claims regarding reinforcement from nicotine: 



1. That animals can be trained to self-administer nicotine; and 



2. The experiments which claim that nicotine causes activation of "pleasure 

 centers" in the brain involving dopamine. 



^' The report artificially attempts to separate reinforcement involving chemicals from 

 those involving activities. In reality, it is the magnitude of the effect that is most 

 important, not the source. Further, we reject the notion that the reinforcement, or 

 pleasure, derived from cigarette smoking is solely the result of ingestion of nicotine. 



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