Increasing addiction

Psychiatrist: “E-cigarettes make you draw longer”

E-cigarettes pose a high risk of addiction, said psychiatrist Tobias Rüther.(Bild: stock.adobe.com/fedorovacz)

Nicotine vaporizers are no longer "substitutes" for conventional tobacco. The latest generation of devices, for the time being, carries a particularly high risk of addiction, said psychiatrist Tobias Rüther. "E-cigarettes are vaped for longer, they are used more often and in shorter clusters."

The first five minutes in particular are crucial for addiction to develop. Tobias Rüther is head of the tobacco outpatient clinic at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. He and his team have analyzed the inhalation rituals of users, among other things. They came to the conclusion that e-cigarettes are consumed in a completely different way to cigarettes.

The new nicotine products are increasingly being trimmed for high nicotine delivery.

Psychiater Tobias Rüther

More nicotine delivery
While the first generations did not cause a kick because the substance was released much more slowly than the addictive substance from conventional tobacco products and did not enter the bloodstream as much, this is now different. "The new nicotine products are increasingly being trimmed for high nicotine delivery." Smokers would smoke because of the nicotine. This is the addictive substance "with the strongest potential for addiction that we know of", said Rüther.

Nicotine reaches the brain just 20 seconds after inhalation, where the dopamine-dependent reward system is activated. According to the psychiatrist, the urge for nicotine arises again after one and a half hours at the latest - due to the short half-life of the addictive substance.

Nicotine pouches a "problem for young people"
 At the annual congress of German lung specialists, Rüther also warned against nicotine pouches, which are a "huge problem" for young people. A 30-milligram pouch even releases significantly more nicotine than a cigarette and fills up more quickly. Nicotine pouches, which do not contain tobacco, are not currently covered by the Austrian Tobacco and Non-Smoker Protection Act.