| If nicotine had just been discovered by the scientists of | | | | eggplant. The thing about nicotine is that it can be |
| today, it would be immediately put on the list of | | | | whatever the user wants it to be. |
| addictive drugs and would be available by prescription | | | | Nicotine can be a stimulant or it can be a depressant |
| only. | | | | depending entirely upon the mood of the user. Normally |
| But nicotine has been around for a long, long time. | | | | nicotine is absorbed by the lungs when cigarette or |
| Tobacco (the main source of nicotine) was being | | | | cigar smoke is inhaled but it can also be absorbed |
| cultivated in the Western Hemisphere as early as | | | | through most all of the membranes of the body. |
| 6000 years before Christ. When Columbus discovered | | | | Nicotine use through smoking became very popular. |
| America one of the first exports was tobacco. | | | | Presidents and paupers smoked. The famous and the |
| When tobacco was exported to Europe, it immediately | | | | infamous smoked. |
| became controversial. Some hailed nicotine as a cure | | | | Then in 1964 the Surgeon General issued a report |
| and a prevention for plague while others were sure | | | | telling us that cigarette smoking and (presumably) cigar |
| that the nicotine in the tobacco caused diseases. | | | | smoking was linked to lung cancer. That's when the |
| The battle over the good versus the bad of nicotine | | | | anti-smoking campaign began in earnest. |
| has raged ever since. Today most people have come | | | | Today smoking is not allowed in public buildings |
| down on the side of nicotine being a bad thing... but not | | | | anywhere. There are many anti-smoking campaigns |
| everybody has. | | | | that are both publicly and privately funded every year. |
| Nicotine is found in its highest concentration in tobacco | | | | Smoking is declining in the United States but the use of |
| but it is also present in potatoes and tomatoes and | | | | smokeless tobacco is increasing. |