Cigarettes And Opioids: A New Solution To The Opioid Epidemic

The Link Between Cigarettes And Opioids

The opioid epidemic has been increasing for many reasons. The prescriptions written for opioids have more than doubled since 2000, and the COVID-19 pandemic also added to the situation. In 2020, drug overdose deaths exceeded 91,000 in the U.S.—the highest number ever recorded in a 12-month period. In the first year of the pandemic alone, drug overdose deaths from opioids increased by 38%

Interestingly, there may be a new weapon in the fight against opioid addiction: the relationship between cigarettes and opioids.

Many people who smoke cigarettes also use opioids. Data from 2013-2021 from MEPS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health Interview Survey, found that although only 37% of the population has ever smoked, smokers account for 69% of annual prescription opioid use. Heavy smokers (12% percent of the population), collectively use as many opioids as the 63% who never smoked.

This co-use make sense, as cigarettes and opioids act similarly in stimulating the brain and altering its function. When smoked, cigarettes release addictive chemicals that make you feel good. Once the brain detects the drug, it produces natural opioids, as well as an overabundance of dopamine, which is what produces a pleasurable feeling.

So, can smoking cigarettes affect your opioid dependence? A recent 6-month study called the Management and Point-of-Care for Tobacco Dependence by The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and the University of Ottawa was conducted to find out. The study concluded that a reducing the number of cigarettes smoked a day also reduced a smoker’s dependence on opioids.  Interestingly, 96% of participants smoked cigarettes while only 9% of Ottawa’s general population smoked cigarettes. They wanted to conduct a study to see if they could reduce the use of addiction among those experiencing homelessness in the area.

The risk for addiction is extremely high among the homeless due to lack of resources for food, shelter, and help with mental issues. They abuse drugs to deal with the daily stress their life of homelessness brings. For six months, the researchers followed around 80 Ottawa residents, giving them support, making them attend regular counseling meetings with a mental health specialist, and providing nicotine replacement therapy (which included a patch, gum, and inhaler). The residents also attended life-skills workshops to support positivity in their futures.

The entire research study helped boost the residents’ confidence and their hope to improve their life for a successful future. This helped the participants mentally and physically so much that there was a drastic decrease in daily cigarettes used. At the beginning of the study, the average participant would smoke about 20 cigarettes a day. By the end of the study, they cut their consumption more than half, by averaging 9 cigarettes per day.

As a result of cutting down on the high number of cigarettes they smoked per day, along with the constant support, results showed there was an 18.8% decrease in the use of opioids among the participants, this included heroin, fentanyl and OxyContin.

What Another Research Study Concluded

Another study conducted by the University of Michigan studied the effects of smoking cigarettes on the brain and how it affected the flow of Opioids.

Participants consisting of six men who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day lied in a PET imaging scanner to have their brain scanned while they smoked cigarettes. What they found was that while the men smoked low-nicotine cigarettes, their brains changed the flow of opioids, compared to smoking regular cigarettes where opioid levels increased.

What was concluded was that nicotine binds to opioid receptors, ensuring the pleasurable feelings and increasing dependency on opioids.

Perhaps not smoking cigarettes would allow time for their brain to produce normal levels of opioids and allow a natural flow of these opioids. This produces a natural feel-good feeling, thus reducing the dependence on cigarettes and prescription opioids.

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