Nicotine, even through e-cigarettes, linked to increased cocaine in mice

Like conventional cigarettes, electronic cigarettes may function as a “gateway drug” that can prime the brain to be more receptive to harder drugs, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, add to the debate about the risks and benefits of electronic cigarettes. “With e-cigarettes, we get rid of the danger to the lungs and to the heart, but no one has mentioned the brain,” said co-author Dr. Eric Kandel of Columbia University. Read more here.