When people smoke, snort or inject meth, it impacts the brains reward system quickly and dramatically, causing levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine to spike an estimated 10 times higher than normal, resulting in a rush of adrenaline that makes the user more alert and energetic
"It acts as a very public billboard because you all of a sudden are reading something about lung cancer from that pack behind the cash register, whereas before you were just reading 'Marlboro,'" said David Hammond, a health behavior researcher at the University of Waterloo in Canada, who is working with the firm designing the labels for the FDA
This is not just a dry number
Michael Seilback, the assistant vice president of state public policy for the American Lung Association, said the poor grades are due in large part to Kentucky not spending enough on cessation and prevention