Nicotine polacrilex (chewing gum) has been under investigation as a replacement for tobacco-delivered nicotine and also as a convenient drug administration modality which provides a model of more general interest for drug dependence researchers. Effective implementation of nicotine replacement strategies in clinical settings has required the conduct of basic research to evaluate various parameters such as dosing and measurement of dependence. During the past year we examined the time course of absorption of nicotine in the oral mucosa following nicotine polacrilex (gum) use in a second study we assessed. Preliminary analyses of the oral kinetics study suggest that substantial levels of nicotine absorption via the oral mucosa occur within 30 seconds of chewing. Preliminary analyses of the study of possible ethnic differences suggest that persons who are intolerant to milk (i.e., many persons of African and Asian heritage) yield elevated expired air CO levels.
