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 neurotransmitter analog. For people suffering from alzheimers disease, sometimes smoking or taking some other form of nicotine has the side effect of suddenly but temporarily improving the function of their memory. This is believed to be due to the neurotransmitter effect of nicotine filling in for something their brain is deficient in. Part of the reason nicotine addiction can be so hard to break might be that your brain gets used to having nicotine play the role of being this source of neurotransmitters, and when you withdraw from heavy nicotine use, your brain hurts from not being used to having this neurotransmitter analog suddenly taken away.
You may be interested in this video on someone who thinks nicotine is a useful drug that is just being delivered in a very unhealthy manner most of the time:
# Freethink | [I believe nicotine is good | John Coogan for Heretics](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHE-hHg49k)
I’m not saying I agree with him, but his is a dissenting viewpoint on this topic that differs from conventional wisdom, so he’s worth hearing out.
Nicotine is still addictive, and if addiction is bad, that alone means that nicotine is at least not benign. That should also be considered.
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