Abstract
The present series of papers grew out of a number of special seminars on the effects of nicotine, sponsored by the Society for Addiction Medicine. The underlying theme of each of these papers is the recognition that there are individual differences in sensitivity to nicotine. Each paper addresses one or more of the following factors which are believed to contribute to these individual differences: genetic/constitutional, environmental, and situational. A realization that genetic factors influenced responses to nicotine has been known for some time (e.g. Fisher, 1959). More recently, there has been great interest in this area, particularly how self-administration of nicotine (smoking) might relate to the use of other drugs of abuse and/or to psychiatric disorders (Glassman, 1993). Two of the articles in this series directly examine these possible relationships. Breslau (1995) examines the association of nicotine dependence with substance abuse and psychiatric disorders in a population of young adults in Detroit. Heath et al. (1995) use the twin approach to identify a number of genetic factors which influence smoking. One genetic factor which has been wellknown for some time, but which has frequently been overlooked in the research laboratory, is gender differences. Perkins (1995) addresses this as
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