NICOTINE
Nicotine
What is Nicotine?
Nicotine is a substance that occurs naturally in plants like tomatoes and potatoes.
Nicotine is found in high concentrations in the leaf of the tobacco plant, which is dried and made into cigarettes.
Nicotine is either extracted from tobacco plants or is made in a lab and then added to e-liquids or nicotine pouches.
Nicotine is poisonous if swallowed or taken at very high doses, but the dose taken when you smoke a cigarette or
vape is not usually harmful.
However, if you are not used to nicotine or take too much in one go, it can make you feel dizzy and faint, cause headaches, stomach cramps, and vomiting.
Stimulant drugs
Nicotine is a stimulant drug. Stimulant drugs include drugs such as cocaine and caffeine (found in tea and coffee).
Stimulant drugs increase the heart rate, make you more alert and wide awake, improve your concentration and stop you feeling hungry.
The stimulant effects of nicotine from a cigarette or a vape are more like a strong cup of coffee than a line of cocaine.
Regular nicotine users get a mild stimulant effect, and like most other drugs, nicotine causes the release of chemicals in your brain that make you feel good.
The effects of a cigarette last about 40 minutes or so before it wears off. With nicotine vapes it is more common for people to vape constantly whenever they can.
Smoking
Cigarette smoke
Nicotine does not cause cancer or lung disease, it is inhaling the carbon dioxide, tar and other nasty chemicals found in cigarette smoke that does that.
Apart from stinky breath and clothes and a bit of coughing, unless you accidentally start a fire, there is very little risk in smoking a single cigarette.
Regular teenage smokers will experience more asthma, but It usually takes many years of smoking before it causes
cancer and lung disease.
Smoking can kill you in about 20 different ways. About half of all life-long smokers will die early, losing on average about 10 years of life.
Although smoking is a long-term risk, nearly all life-long smokers start smoking when they are school children or
teenagers.
Who smokes?
Smoking is far less popular than it once was.
School pupils are now more likely to have taken an illegal drug than smoked a cigarette.
Less than 1 in 5 school pupils have ever smoked a cigarette and only about 1 in 100 are regular cigarette smokers.
That’s because:
- We are more aware of the health risks;
- It has become antisocial and less ‘normal’ to smoke;
- There are lots of places where you can’t smoke;
- Cigarettes are very, very expensive (up to £15 a packet)
Although smoking has declined, vaping nicotine has grown in popularity.
There are now more young vapers than smokers and more than 1 in 5 girls aged 15 are currently vaping.
Vapes and pouches
Nicotine vapes
A nicotine vape consists of three main parts: a chamber containing e-liquid; an atomiser; and a lithium battery.
The atomiser heats the e-liquid, turning it into vapour. This vapour doesn’t contain the cancer causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
As well as nicotine, e-liquid contains chemicals that produce the vapour cloud and others that provide flavour and colour.
In the UK, the chemicals in e-liquids are regulated. However, the chemicals in cheap imported vapes are not. Some of these have contained dangerous chemicals like lead or very high doses of nicotine.
Lithium batteries should not be disposed of in normal waste bins as they can be a fire risk, they should be re-cycled.
However, up to 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week, which is very bad for our environment.
Long-term risk
Nicotine vapes are a safer alternative to cigarettes for long-term adult smokers. They were never intended to be used by young people who have never smoked cigarettes.
Although vaping is much safer than smoking, nicotine vapour still contains thousands of chemicals, some of which
may turn out to be harmful to vape in the long-term.
Nicotine pouches
Nicotine pouches are placed between the lip and gum to absorb nicotine though the skin. This can irritate the gum.
Like vapes, nicotine pouches are much safer than smoking cigarettes, but they also contain chemicals that may turn out to be harmful in the long-term.
Some pouches are ‘tobacco free’ as the nicotine is made in a lab. The trouble is that pouches, like vapes and cigarettes, still contain nicotine… and nicotine is a very addictive drug.
Dependency and withdrawal
Dependence
The regular use of nicotine alters the way your brain works.
A hit of nicotine last about 40 minutes before it wears off and the brain demands more.
You get an overwhelming desire for a hit of nicotine (known as craving), and start to feel panic stricken if you run out.
It’s like you grow a little baby inside your head that starts screaming and only shuts up if you feed it with nicotine or
when you fall asleep.
You don’t become dependent on nicotine the first time you use it, but some people start and never stop.
Other people use on and off for years before dependency creeps up on them.
Nearly all regular nicotine users eventually become dependent.
Withdrawal
Withdrawing from nicotine is not dangerous. Some people just stop without a fuss or much in the way of withdrawal symptoms.
Other people get withdrawal symptoms that can go on for weeks and include:
- Intense cravings;
- Anger, frustration and irritability;
- Difficulty concentrating and studying;
- Feeling tired and groggy;
- Having trouble sleeping.
Life without nicotine can feel sad and empty. And all it takes is another dose of nicotine to make that feeling go away.
There is an easy way to find out if you are dependent on nicotine… see if you can go without it for a day.
Habit, stress and mental health
Developing a habit
People try vaping and smoking because they are curious, or because there mates are doing it and they want to join in.
Some people find smoking or vaping nicotine extremely enjoyable, which is why they carry on doing it.
With regular use a nicotine hit becomes a treat. A way of rewarding yourself, having a break or chilling out.
For some nicotine becomes a substitute for food or is used as a way to control their weight.
Smoking or vaping can be a way to kill time, something to do with your hands or a comfort blanket when you feel alone.
Smoking and vaping can become a habit.
Stress and mental health
People who are depressed or anxious or have other mental health issue are more likely to use nicotine.
For regular users, smoking or vaping nicotine can feel relaxing and feel like it is reducing stress and anxiety.
However, it is the craving for nicotine that actually makes you feel irritable and anxious in the first place.
That relaxing feeling is the relief from craving that another hit of nicotine provides.
It is thought the benefits of quitting smoking or vaping on symptoms of anxiety and depression can be equal to that of taking antidepressants.
Getting caught
It is illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco or nicotine vapes to under 18’s, although it is legal to possess them at any age.
Proposed new laws will make it illegal to sell cigarettes, tobacco, herbal smoking mixtures and even cigarette papers, to anyone born after 1st January 2009.
The next generation of adults may not be able to buy cigarettes legally, although they will still be able to buy
nicotine vapes when they are 18.
Those born before 2009 will still be able to buy cigarettes legally when they are aged 18 or over.
It is also planned to ban the sale of disposable vapes and make shops cover up any vape displays.
You cannot legally sell pouches containing tobacco (Snus) in the UK. Pouches containing lab made nicotine can be sold to anyone, although new laws are likley to restrict sales to those age 18 and over.
If you’re caught smoking or vaping nicotine at school, the amount of trouble you’re in depends on your age.
Always use something that comes in proper packaging and open it yourself. Having a toke on someone else’s vape is
also a good way of spreading germs.
Vapes containing THC can sometimes look identical to nicotine vapes.
Young people who are caught or taken ill at school after vaping THC often say they thought they were vaping
nicotine…but you would say that wouldn’t you!
THC vapes cost a lot more than nicotine vapes, even if THC vapes are sometimes mis-sold and contain Spice.
Some people, either for ‘a laugh’ or to exploit you, might try to give you a THC or Spice vape and pretend it is nicotine.
Getting help
Although nicotine vapes and pouches work out much cheaper than smoking cigarettes, it can still work out very
expensive if you have a limited amount of money.
Regular smoking and vaping can lead to debt, which can lead to a whole lot of trouble.
Using cigarettes or vapes you can’t afford can draw you into crime and risk you being exploited.
It is often the case that a whole series of things have built up or gone wrong in your life by the time you get help from Early Break.
Vaping, smoking or the use of any other drug is unlikely to be the cause of all your problems… but it might have added to them or made things worse.
It is important to remember that even if you are in a situation that you can’t see a way out of, there is always help available.
Young people and families are at the centre of everything Early Break do.
Each young person sets their own goals and targets and the role of their individual worker is that they support them to achieve these goals.
