my biology textbook says that there are over 60 carcinogens in cigarettes that cause cancer, but can’t we take them out? aren’t people just addicted to the nicotine? couldn’t we just put nicotine and some sort of smoke producing substance that isn’t a carcinogen and leave it at that
Edit: Thank you for the answers, everyone!
In: 43
The health problem with cigarettes is breathing smoke from a fire. You shouldn’t breathe smoke, because it’s seriously unhealthy. Doesn’t matter if it’s tobacco, wood, plastic, weed or whatever. Lungs are for *air* and anything else is bad to some degree.
Nicotine isn’t the only active chemical in tobacco either. It’s certainly the *primary* one. But anyone who’s tried nicotine patches or similar stuff will tell you it’s not quite the same. That’s because tobacco also contain other substances with their own effects. One of the most significant ones is one that basically potentiates the nicotine. It’s a reversible MAO inhibitor IIRC, which makes our brain more receptive to the nicotine. That’s just one, it’s a witch’s brew of psychoactive substances in there.
Then there’s the habit part of it. Addiction happens because our minds associate certain things with receiving the substance. If you’ve always gotten your nicotine through cigarettes while standing on your porch, your mind will have associated aaaall details it can with the nicotine. A nicotine patch or injection won’t be the same, because it doesn’t include all the other stuff. That other stuff doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the nicotine, but your mind doesn’t know that. It just wants the whole package.
I’m a Snus user. Popular type of tobacco in scandinavia, which is held under the lip. For me, the taste of it is important. I’m not even satisfied with a different brand of Snus, much less a nicotine patch.
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