Nicotine is wonderful. 2mg and 4mg lozenges are readily available, you don't have to take up smoking to get it. It's excellent for many, many things: cognition, focus, appetite control, positive habit formation, etc.
You don't have to smoke cigarettes to get nicotine. Using a patch just gives you nicotine in a very safe way, and nicotine itself isn't particularly harmful.
Addiction is literally its only downside.