Nicotine addiction and comorbidity with alcohol abuse and mental illness.

The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the global adult population smokes. Because tobacco use is on the rise in developing countries, death resulting from tobacco use continues to rise. Nicotine, the main addictive component of tobacco, initiates synaptic and cellular changes that underlie the motivational and behavioral alterations that culminate in addiction. Nicotine addiction progresses rapidly in adolescents and is most highly expressed in vulnerable people who have psychiatric illness or other substance abuse problems.