Quick info
Nicotine is a psychoactive alkaloid and occurs in synthetic form or in varying amounts in tobacco leaves. These contain over 4000 ingredients; in addition to the main active ingredient nicotine, these include tar (provides the flavor), carbon monoxide, benzene, cadmium, nitrosamines, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen, hydrocyanic acid, etc. In processed tobacco products, other substances are usually added.
Nicotine belongs to the group of stimulants.
Nicotine stimulates the release of numerous neurotransmitters and hormones, including acetylcholine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, arginine vasopressin, serotonin, dopamine, and β-endorphin, which are responsible for most of its psychoactive effects.
Nicotine has a stimulating effect (and increases concentration), and at higher doses it also has a calming and muscle-relaxing effect; it reduces feelings of hunger, anxiety, and aggression, and can produce mild euphoria.
Onset of action
Nicotine is released immediately when the cigarette is lit. Nicotine, bound to tar particles, first enters the lungs and from there into the blood. After 7 to 60 seconds, the nicotine molecules reach the brain.
Duration of action
10-30 minutes
Modesof use
Tobacco is mostly smoked, less frequently snorted or chewed. Nicotine is vaporized in e-cigarettes. Do not eat tobacco / nicotine under any circumstances!
Appearances
Tobacco (cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco (snus), tobacco heaters (IQOS)). Synthetic: liquid for e-cigarettes (mostly as cartridge).
Individual and dependent on the form of consumption; 0.2-2 mg nicotine. The lethal nicotine dose for adults is about 60 mg, for children and adolescents much lower.
Acceleration of the heartbeat, constriction of peripheral blood vessels, reduction of the amount of oxygen in the blood. When smoked as tobacco: headache, impairment of sense of smell and taste. With regular use: increase in blood pressure and heart rate, increased release of adrenaline and increased activity of the gastrointestinal tract, appetite suppression. Most with first or infrequent use: lowered body temperature, nausea and/or vomiting, and dizziness.
Long-term risks
Both the accompanying substances of tobacco smoke and the combustion process are mainly responsible for the known health consequences of smoking - including an increased risk of heart and lung diseases (asthma, chronic bronchitis, COPD, heart attack, stroke, thrombosis, lung cancer), damage to the stomach lining (risk of stomach ulcers).
Nicotine is one of the substances with the highest potential for dependence, with physical and psychological symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms include depression, anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, and (in the long term with abstinence) weight gain.
Taking medication (e.g. birth control pills) in combination with high tobacco consumption impairs blood circulation (risk of thrombosis!).
E-cigarettes
Ine-cigarettes, liquid nicotine is vaporized together with other excipients. This is significantly less harmful than cigarette smoking. However, the long-term risks are largely unknown; the vapor of certain e-cigarettes contains carcinogens (aldehydes). Regular consumption of e-cigarettes containing nicotine leads to nicotine dependence, as with cigarettes.
Waterpipe, Shisha
Any use of tobacco brings health risks, not only smoking cigarettes. Water pipe smoking can also be addictive and harmful to health.
It has not been clearly proven how harmful smoking a hookah is. The water in a hookah cools and flavors the smoke, but does not filter out the pollutants. As a result, virtually all pollutants remain and are inhaled. Therefore, there are probably the same risks associated with smoking hookahs as there are with smoking cigarettes. Through various additives (flavors, etc.), these can possibly even be amplified.
LSD analogues are substances that are chemically very similar to LSD and can have comparable effects. Some of them have been known for a long time (e.g. ALD52, ETH-LAD, AL-LAD, PRO-LAD etc.) and have been studied pharmacologically as well as psychopharmacologically, at least in part. Others are newer "creations" (e.g. the derivatives 1P-LSD,1B-LSD, 1cP-LSD, 1V-LSDetc.), for which only few or no data are available. Certain LSD analogues can (still) be legally produced, traded and consumed in some countries, which is the main reason for their distribution.
Most LSD analogues are naturally different from LSD in their effect and/or potency (e.g. ETH-LAD, AL-LAD, LSZ etc.). In contrast, the so-called 1-acylated LSD compounds (e.g. 1P-LSD, 1V-LSD, 1B-LSD, ALD-52, etc.) are presumed, on the basis of pharmacological studies, to convert into LSD in the body (they function as so-called prodrugs) and thus have a comparable psychoactive effect to LSD.
In the case of prodrugs of LSD and LSD analogues, it has not been conclusively clarified whether, in addition to their psychoactive effect, they can produce other pharmacological effects. How potent these prodrugs are compared to the resulting substance (e.g., 1P-LSD to LSD), and to what extent a delay in onset of action occurs in each case, may be substance-dependent and cannot be generalized. Therefore, it is important to approach the dose/effect carefully to avoid overdoses.
If you or someone else needs urgent help after taking drugs or alcohol, call an ambulance on 144. Tell the emergency responders everything you know.
It could save lives.