NIH Radio
Study of nicotine as a gateway drug – 1
Narrator: This is NIH Health Matters. I’m Joe Balintfy. A groundbreaking study in mice has shown that nicotine primes the brain to enhance cocaine’s effects. This study supports other evidence that nicotine is a gateway drug. Dr. Nora Volkow an institute director at the NIH says earlier studies have shown that the first drug that most people take is either cigarette smoking or alcohol.
Volkow: And following these they go into other drugs like marijuana and subsequently into drugs like cocaine, or heroin, or methamphetamine.
Narrator: The current study looked at a biological mechanism showing that nicotine had a priming effect in the brains of mice. For more information on this finding, visit www.drugabuse.gov. Health Matters is produced by the NIH, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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