Statutory Information

Nicotine is a potent parasympathomimetic stimulant and an alkaloid, a nitrogen-containing chemical. Several types of plants can make nicotine. There are also many synthetic ways to produce nicotine.

It wasn’t until 1828 that nicotine was extracted from tobacco and identified. Two Germans were the ones to discover nicotine: a doctor, Wilhelm Posselt, and a chemist, Ludwig Reinmann. Not only did they manage to isolate it, they also deemed it venomous. Scientists in later years mapped out the chemical in more detail, and finally found a way to synthesize it.

Nicotine constitutes approximately 0.6–3.0% of the dry weight of tobacco. Nicotine functions as an antiherbivore chemical; consequently, nicotine was widely used as an insecticide in the past and neonicotinoids such as imidacloprid are currently widely used.

Nicotine is one among the most heavily used drugs that are fatally addictive and the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death world over; people who stop the consumption of nicotine experience craving, anxiety, depression, moodiness, irritability and inattentiveness. Smoking has an immediate effect on your body. The nicotine travels through the body in the bloodstream and reaches your brain in 7 to 15 seconds. In your brain, nicotine boosts the “reward center,” releasing chemicals. It causes a momentary pleasant and happy feeling. The release of Adrenaline increases the heart rate and blood pressure and making breathing rapid and shallow. On a longer run, regular consumption of nicotine can damage your heart, arteries, and lungs, increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease.