I just stumbled upon these two nicotine delivery systems. (The WHO is alarmed about one of them.)
When reading about them, I couldn’t help but think of Bill White’s lecture on drug trends when he made this point:
The hypodermic syringe offers an interesting case study in innovation. This new instrument arrived with the promise to reduce morphine addiction by requiring smaller amounts of morphine via injection compared to oral use. But this new technology turned out to be a Trojan horse that would alter the history of addiction in unforeseen ways.
He also referenced the innovation of “rocking” cocaine with baking soda and offered a warning something to the effect of, “I can’t tell you what the major drugs of abuse of tomorrow will be. But I can tell you that they are already here and that someone will discover a new way to use them.”
I was about to write that it was hard to imagine nicotine as a major drug of abuse, but then realized how blind I can be to the fact that it is a major drug of abuse. At any rate, it’s hard to imagine nicotine being used the way that heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs are used but maybe with a new method of administration and in conjunction with another drug?
Maybe. Maybe not. But I am convinced that Bill White is right–there are other trojan horses coming.
Recovery Review 