I understand tobacco and chew and vapes aren’t good for you, because of all the other shit in there, but is nicotine itself as a chemical bad for you?
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Nicotine is a alkaloid poision found in the tobacco plant, which is a member of the Nightshade family of plants, which in the classical era’s were used by some to piosion others. Not all Nightshade plants however are piosionous, as this also includes tomatoes, bell peppers, chili peppers, eggplants, and potatoes. In low doses, it acts as a stimulant. Low doeses being up to 5mg The Surgeon General reccomends no more than 1 mg a day. The typical cigarette contains anywhere from 11.9 – 14.5 mg of nicotine, of which about 2mg ends up being absorbed by the body. The lower limit does for fatal outcomes is 500mg – 1000mg, or about 13mg per kilogram of body weight. In high amounts such as this, it can act as a paralytic for the respiratory system shutting down the lungs as well as nicotine poisioning or organ failure. Nicotine can also cause birth defects, and affect adolescent brain development in children and people under 20. Not only is it bad for you, it’s also highly addictive making the user come back to it because it spikes dopamine levels. This why cigarette manufactures do not remove it, and actually add it to e-cigarettes and vapes. By making it addictive, people feel a need to keep using it because it triggers the release of dopamine which is a feel good drug in the body. And vapes themselves have other issues with the use of oils in the chemical makeup of the aresol agents used in them. Those oils when inhaled can affect the lungs and coat them in oil causing respiratory issues among other things.
While it is bad on it’s own, nicotine is at just low enough levels in cigarette’s to not be the major cause of cancer from cigarettes or e-cigaretts. It’s use is limited to just enough to make the person addicted and keep them coming back to smoke again and again. As far as Cancer is concerned, in cigarette and e-cigaretts it is normally attributed to tar, carbon monoxide, and other harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Keep in mind, none of this overall is good for you. And the cigarette industry for decades has funneled money into a smear campaign to downplay the dangers of smoking, and help prevent politicians from banning cigarettes altogether. Even what you read on the internet about nicotine and cigaretts may be a downplayed or washed over source of this information.
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