At Sweet Smoke Herbs, we strive to provide you with plentiful information about the non-addictive herbal alternatives to tobacco and its active ingredient, nicotine. If you’re trying to quit smoking, or even if you’ve never smoked tobacco due to the negative press about the risk to your health and the difficulty of quitting, you may be wondering, “What exactly is nicotine and why is it so addictive?”
Nicotine is a plant alkaloid found in the Solanaceae family of New World plants, which includes tomatoes and potatoes as well as the tobacco plant. Nicotine is mainly produced in the roots of the tobacco plant and then migrates to the leaves where it accumulates, eventually comprising about 0.6-3.0% of the dry weight of the tobacco plant. Tobacco plants may have begun producing nicotine as a chemical defense against predation by herbivores, especially insects: the alkaloid was formerly used as an insecticide, and many of the synthetic pesticides now in use such as imidacloprid are derivatives of nicotine.
However, nicotine’s true commercial value comes from its action as a stimulant in mammals, including humans. While it takes only one milligram of nicotine to produce stimulant effects in the human body, many commercial cigarette companies have ramped up the nicotine content of their products by an average of 1.6% per year (study in Tobacco Control journal, 2005) in order to hook customers faster and keep them hooked. Traditionally, nicotine addiction is one of the hardest dependencies to break; according to some studies, nicotine may be harder to give up than either heroin or cocaine! The strength of nicotine addiction comes partly from its unique effects in the human body; shredded whole tobacco also contains a group of secondary alkaloids that reinforce and prolong the effects of nicotine. Common chemical additives in commercial cigarettes also slow your body’s metabolism of nicotine and heighten its potency.
When you smoke a cigarette, the nicotine takes about 10-20 seconds to enter the bloodstream and cross the blood-brain barrier, producing an intense feeling of alertness, energy and often euphoria in its users. To accomplish these effects, nicotine acts on two types of receptors of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine: one located in the adrenal glands and the other in the central nervous system. In the adrenal glands, nicotine stimulates the release of adrenaline and noradrenalin, hormones responsible for regulating the body’s “flight or flight” response. When released, these hormones cause blood vessels in the skin to constrict, increase respiration and heart rate, and raise the level of glucose in the blood. These changes in the body’s physiology combine to deliver the intense rush of energy many smokers crave. In the brain, nicotine seems to increase the production rate of the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrin--- chemicals that involved in regulating feelings of euphoria, pleasure and reward.
Your body metabolizes half the average dosage of nicotine in about two hours, after which its effects markedly taper off; however, shredded whole tobacco also contains secondary alkaloids that can prolong the effects of nicotine by acting as monoamine-oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzymes would normally quickly break down the “feel-good” neurotransmitters generated by nicotine alone, and curtail the pleasurable feelings associated with smoking. However, the secondary alkaloids in tobacco inhibit the action of these enzymes, enhancing the duration and intensity of nicotine’s effects. One study revealed that rats given the option to self-administer pure nicotine by IV were more likely to do so if their IV solution also included a mixture of these secondary tobacco alkaloids.
Nicotine is such a ubiquitous drug of choice for many because it’s versatile and has satisfying effects that persist even over long-term use. Unlike users of cocaine or heroin, nicotine addicts do not face diminishing returns that require them to take more of the drug to achieve the same physiological effects. Long-term nicotine use actually increases the sensitivity of the brain’s reward pathways, creating chemical changes in the brain that make quitting tobacco a lot harder; it can take months for the brain to return to its normal chemistry after a person stops consuming nicotine.
Much like alcohol, nicotine can also generate different effects depending on the dose you take: a few quick puffs to deliver a rapid hit can energize the user and stimulate feelings of clarity and sharpness; longer, slower puffs delivering higher doses of nicotine produce sedative and analgesic effects in users, dulling pain and putting them in a state of relaxation. This “biphasic” effect makes nicotine the go-to drug for a lot of people who want to reliably regulate their level of energy throughout the day, and don’t know what other options are out there. Most people smoke cigarettes because they don’t know what else they can legally smoke to get the same range of effects.
Fortunately, while there may not have been many tobacco alternatives in the past, now you can find a whole range of nicotine-free smoking herbs, blends, and extract-enhanced products at Sweet Smoke Herbs! You’ll be amazed at the power of our all-natural products to grant calm, relieve anxiety and improve your clarity, concentration and energy levels. After trying a few of our versatile blends, we hope you’ll join us in saying, “Who needs nicotine?”