[throwaway2331]

The FDA doesn't source those claims. It seems more political, than empirical.

Having used nicotine, tobacco, and been around people that have used nicotine and tobacco, there is little observational evidence that is addictive, relative to every other drug out there (including caffeine).

From my experience, the effects of nicotine are exceptionally mild compared to caffeine. The most serious is usually severe nausea/vertigo/lightheadedness if you dose too high.

Vapes are a different beast, though. You can easily get the same effects as a whippit by chain-vaping 50mg salt nic. However, I would still put whippits as vastly more dangerous long-term (the cause of effect for whippits is oxygen deprivation, including cell death in the brain, whereas for nicotine it's neuronal in nature; but I'm having a hard time finding actual research on the pathways involved, due to the politicized nature of this drug).

[Maursault]

I'm not going to condone abusing Whippets, but it takes an awful large amount of long term repeated abuse of Nitrous Oxide to have adverse effects, which I believe are neuronal... losing feeling in the legs is one symptom I've heard. But it is well known among all the substances that are abused to be the least harmful. Even so, Nitrous Oxide abuse is no laughing matter.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrous_oxide#Neurotoxicity_an...

[DanBC]

Tinnitus has been reported in a few people who've only used nitrous occasionally.

[Maursault]

Every so often you hear about asphyxiation deaths from nitrous oxide abuse because it is being used in an enclosed space, such as a vehicle with the windows closed because it is heavier than air, it displaces the air, thus there is a danger of asphyxiation. But you probably won't get hepatitis or AIDS from sharing a cream dispenser, nor develop lung cancer or emphysema, nor will it make your heart explode or cause heart disease. But tinnitus is probably maddening, as well as the realization one has caused their own chronic symptoms due to poor judgement. But N2O is of vital importance to medicine as the most harmless and effective anesthetic known when properly administered with proper amounts of O2.

[wyre]

Nicotine is addictive. Patches and gum contain extended release nicotine which might be why you think it isn’t addictive. Zyn pouches are a freebase nicotine product that the user puts in their gum like tobacco chew and is an addictive product.

[throwaway2331]

Do you have any evidence?

I've done free base nic, salt nic, and nic polacrilex. Salt nic would be, in my opinion, the most habit-forming (but not addictive), due to a quick and high "peak," and quicker clearance -- leading to a need to re-dose more often. That's also granted that the route of administration (vaping) allows for an insane amount of nicotine to be absorbed, much more than you can ever get with pouches, gums, and patches.

As well, I'm not certain, but I believe Zyn uses salt nic, and not free base.

I've done snuff as well, and it's similar to nicotine gum (except being more of a nuisance).

I haven't seen evidence for basic nicotine products being addictive. I have little comprehension how something so mild can become addictive. Habit-forming? Yes. Full-blown addiction? No.

Cigarettes are different. They're a cocktail of various psychoactive chemicals that get dumped straight into the bloodstream in large amounts. I understand how they can become addictive. I have first-hand experience of all the necessary things that must come together for the "addiction" switch to come on.

In my experience, nicotine alone is not enough for that switch to be flipped.

[DanBC]

> Do you have any evidence?

Do you?

This is pretty much settled science, and has been since 1986. Page 30: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK179276/pdf/Bookshelf_N...

[throwaway2331]

Read the original report your report is citing: 10.1001/jama.1988.03720190003002 (excerpt: https://sci-hub.se/10.1001/jama.1988.03720190003002)

This reads like a thinly-veiled marketing piece for Nicorette (now owned by J&J and GSK) via lobbying -- four years after nicotine gum receives FDA approval in the U.S.

I have yet to see any actual research on isolating nicotine as the addictive component in tobacco products.