An outstanding article in Schizophrenia Bulletin Advance Access exposes the tobacco industry's aggressive tactics to market smoking to people with schizophrenia. This includes the creation of the "self-medicating hypothesis" and in 1997 the formation of an R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company subsidiary, Targacept, a biopharmaceutical company. The authors say the industry's success came from "suppressing research that does not support their position, and disseminating their data and interpretations to the lay press and policy makers" including family advocacy groups. They conclude: "Might it be that the mentally ill are the largest remaining group of smokers, not because they need to smoke but rather because they are among the last to be treated?" It is estimated that four out of five people with schizophrenia smoke and research is under way to target a nicotine receptor for therapeutic intervention.
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by Phyllis Vine
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