– Nicotine is a tropane alkaloid, it has the ability to release dopamine in the reward pathways of the brain, why does it not produce consistent euphoria like cocaine; alkaloid or speed: amphetamine?

Question

EDIT – Something I forgot to mention which may add context is that after a period of abstinence I feel a sharp euphoric wave of dopamine which goes away within less than a few minutes and results in dysphoria, even with redosing.

Unlike cocaine, which I’m comparing since both are alkaloids, it seems to build a very unusually fast tolerance and any positive effects dissipate, unlike the latter.

In: 3379

Answer 1

Wow. For a 5 year old you sure know some big words.

But, as others have said, it’s relative strength.

Picture it like this: if cocaine is sulphuric acid, which, given enough time, can eat through steel, nicotine is like white vinegar. Sure, it’s an acid, but we use it as a food ingredient.

The point is, one of them is just stronger than the other. So, it takes a lot longer for your body to acclimatize to cocaine than it does to nicotine.

Do enough coke, and, eventually, you’ll need more and more to get the same level of high.

With nicotine it might be that if you smoked enough you could get that euphoria feeling again, but I suspect you would feel ill before you got to that point.