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Nicotine

Nicotine

Introduction

Nicotine is an addictive substance that is found in a variety of products including e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and cigars. It is known to stimulate the brain’s reward system and have an overall therapeutic effect. Whilst nicotine can receive negative publicity from time to time, it is not responsible for the deaths from the use of traditional tobacco products. Chemicals such as tar, benezene, carbon monoxide lead are just few of the substances that cause adverse health effects from the use of traditional cigarettes.

In the UK, Nicotine is a controlled substance and is governed by TPD & TRPR guidelines. All nicotine containing products must be submitted to MHRA before they made available for sale.

How Addictive is Nicotine?

It is a known fact that nicotine is a highly addictive substance. Simply a small amount of nicotine can lead to dependency. However, experts have shown that nicotine shares some similar characteristics to caffeine and have concluded that its no worse than a cup of coffee. For example, both nicotine and caffeine are addictive and both chemicals can raise blood pressure.

Nicotine in Cigarettes

The amount of nicotine in a single cigarette depends on a variety of factors, for example, strength, size, and brand. On average, a single cigarette contains around 12mg of nicotine and the end users is likely to consume around 1.2mg of nicotine whilst the rest is burns away. So, if someone smokes around 20 cigarettes per day, their daily intake of nicotine would be roughly 24mg. This would be slightly below consuming a 20mg 10ml bottle of nic salts per day. Nicotine content varies in other tobacco related products:

  • Large Cigar: Roughly 13.3-15.4mg
  • Tobacco Pipe: 30.08 -50.89mg
  • Chewing Tobacco: 144mg Per Can
  • Shisha: 1.04mg Per Puff On Average

Overdosing on nicotine is very unlikely when consuming it through regulated products and there are very few cases of people poisoning themselves with nicotine. One of the reasons for this is because your body will naturally reject a product when its had too much. For example, you’ll get a headache or start to feel sick. According to the CDC, 50-60mg of nicotine is a deadly dose for an adult who weighs about 150 pounds. However, research has shown the actual dose could be a lot higher. Products in the UK that contain nicotine are restricted to 20mg with a content limit of 10ml.

References 

CDC 

Healthline 

Sky News 

 

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