Any thoughts on why people with schizophrenia have such high rates of smoking (nicotine addiction)?

It isn't clearly : Understood. It may have to do w ^ Dopamine release w use of nicotine. This may ^ Dopamine in prefrontal cortex which may v negative psychotic sxs.

Nicotine & Schiz: There are different ideas about this, but no "written in stone" answers. One is the possibility that nicotine may assist people whose internal "gating" mechanisms may be faulty -- where they have trouble differentiating inner from outer stimuli. Another is that nicotine may simply be more addicting in schizophrenic brains than others. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23919443.