Nicotine addiction in Britain : a report of the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians.

This report explains why nicotine addiction needs to become a major health priority in Britain. It emphases the central role of nicotine addiction in smoking - its physical, pharmacological and psychological effects - and sets out implications for the ways in which smoking could be managed by doctors and health professionals in the future. Recommendations are also made for the more effective delivery of smoking cessation services. Topics include: physical and pharmacological effects of nicotine; tobacco smoking in Britain: an overview; Is nicotine a drug of addiction?; the natural history of smoking: the smoker's career; regulation of nicotine intake for smokers, and implications for health; management of nicotine addiction.