I have been talking about nicotine addiction all this while and how to kick the habit. Let us take a closer look at what is nicotine.

The main alkaloid of the tobacco plant is nicotine which is both a sedative and a stimulant. Nicotine is an oily liquid alkaloid, pale yellow, poisonous with a pungent odour and acrid taste, turning brown upon exposure to air. It’s used in medicine as well as an insecticide in its concentrated form.

Long term usage through tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars and pipes can definitely lead to dependency because it is highly addictive. It is contained in different quantities in the tobacco leaves depending on the origin and preparation of the tobacco.

The amount of nicotine in tobacco leaves ranges from 2% to 7%. A cigarette smoker only absorbed some of the smoke inhaled from a cigarette (typically containing about 10mg of nicotine), getting about 1 to 2 milligrams of nicotine from each cigarette.

Cigarette smoking, results in rapid distribution of nicotine, reaching the brain within 10 seconds of inhalation. Cigar and pipe smokers, on the other hand, typically do not inhale the smoke, so nicotine is absorbed more slowly through the mucosal membranes of their mouths.

So in conclusion, what is nicotine? Well, it’s killing you one way or another. Slowly with continual usage of tobacco products or potent sedative if you take it in the right proportion, a drop of pure nicotine would kill and put you to sleep forever.