A study conducted about drug abuse in New York State conducted at the Columbia University National center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that teens who start smoking illegally at a young age are nine times more likely to develop drug or alcohol abuse problems within a year and are 13 times more likely to become medically dependent on a drug as defined by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in New York.

According to the research, the findings of the study mean that teachers, parents, and doctor’s should be aware that children that start smoking as teens are more susceptible to become affected by drug addiction and should thus view a smoking habit during teens a signal or alarm that a child may suffer from mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders and depression.  The study researchers continued to state that doctors already know that nicotine can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular problems, but now there is a definite link between nicotine and the developing brains of young teens which New York doctors would do well to observe.

There are many links that explain why teens in New York may be more susceptible to drug dependence as a result of smoking.  One is that exposure to nicotine at an early age may possibly result in neurological changes which increases the vulnerability of a teen to subsequent alcohol abuse.  In animal studies researchers have noted that there is a noticeable temporal link between alcohol consumption and nicotine exposure.

Another reason that nicotine use in New York teens and drinking may be linked is because nicotine use increases the brain’s dopamine level which in turn increases the amount of alcohol that a person consumes and the powerful propensity to drink more as well.  As if this is not enough for teens in New York to face, smoking also makes the nicotine receptors higher creating something known as up-regulation in teens which allows alcohol to pray on their actions making them want to continue to drink even while sober and during normal life leading to eventual early alcoholism.