Pankow and his team recently compared the levels of free-base nicotine found in the most common brands of American cigarettes (see "Percent Free Base Nicotine.." in the bibliography). They found that some -- including the famously popular Marlboro -- contain 10 to 20 times higher percentages of free-base nicotine than other brands. But the brand with the most free-base nicotine? The "Natural American Spirit" cigarette, marketed here as "100% Chemical Additive-Free Tobacco." American Spirit cigarettes contain 36 percent free-base nicotine, compared with 9.6 percent in a Marlboro, 2.7 percent in a Camel, and 6.2 percent in a Winston.

Freebase nicotine is the term used to describe a potent form of nicotine that is rapidly absorbed by the lungs and brain, causing a faster "hit"

Freebase nicotine is absorbed in a similar way to drugs such as crack cocaine. For this reason it is believed to be more addictive than normal nicotine

Researchers in America looked at how much freebase nicotine was released by 11 US brands of cigarettes. They discovered that levels of freebase nicotine varied considerably, from 1.6 per cent to 36 per cent of all the nicotine contained in the cigarette

Although the researchers didn't investigate the ingredients of the cigarettes, they argue that some cigarettes contain chemicals that are designed to make them even more addictive

One chemical is ammonia, which may increase the levels of freebase nicotine that are released

Anti-smoking campaigners weren't surprised by the researchers' findings, saying that freebase nicotine is one of the key ways that people become addicted to cigarettes

Tobacco manufacturers claim that the findings might not be relevant to UK cigarettes, as different types of tobacco are used and manufacturers are only able to add certain chemicals (controlled by a list of permitted additives)

Experts on smoking and its effects advise that the best way to avoid the problems of smoking is to not smoke at all or to give up

Calendar

Money tin

carrots

water

new toothbrush, toothpicks

alternative behavior 

1. purchased rice cooker;cook brown rice daily
2. resume ginger tea
3. daily walk/bike ride
4. yoga classes, practice daily
5. Meditation daily
6. Mixture of hot with cold food; PROTEIN SOURCES
7. supplements
8. Outreach/Phone, email commitments