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1) That only matters if nicotine itself is substantially bad for you, which is far from clear: https://www.gwern.net/ https://www.gwern.net/ 2) Adults like fla

1) That only matters if nicotine itself is substantially bad for you, which is far from clear: https://www.gwern.net/ https://www.gwern.net/ 2) Adults like flavors too. We shouldn't ban anything appealing that kids shouldn't have just because it might appeal to kids.

wahern 8y ago
“The whole problem with nicotine is that it happens to be found in cigarettes,” she told me. “People can’t disassociate the two in their mind, nicotine and smoking. It’s not the general public that annoys me, it’s the scientists. When I tell them about the studies, they should say, ‘Wow.’ But they say, ‘Oh well, that might be true, but I don’t see the point.’ It’s not even ignorance. It’s their preconceived ideas and inflexibility.” ... “To my knowledge, nicotine is the most reliable cognitive enhancer that we currently have, bizarrely,” said Jennifer Rusted, professor of experimental psychology at Sussex University in Britain when we spoke. “The cognitive enhancing effects of nicotine in a normal population are more robust than you get with any other agent. With Provigil, for instance, the evidence for cognitive benefits is nowhere near as strong as it is for nicotine.” From https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-a-nicotine-patch-make-you-smarter-excerpt/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-a-nicotine-p... I've never smoked (though I tried and failed to be pick up vaping 10 years ago), but I think it should be abundantly clear that for centuries many smokers have been effectively self-medicating, either to blunt some mental disorder (Schizophrenia, etc) or for what today we might call a cognitive enhancer. It's just that the addictiveness of smoking has masked that phenomenon. Vaping is unmasking it because nicotine alone is not nearly as addictive as smoking. (Seems unclear if vaping is as non-addictive as, e.g, nicotine patches or gum. Probably not, but we'll see.)
- ArchTypical 8y ago
  That is fascinating.
- icanhackit 8y ago
  It's worth noting that tobacco contains harmala alkaloids [1] which are monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). So it's possible those who persist with smoking in place of vaping or other nicotine delivery mechanisms might be doing so because they're (unknowingly) self-medicating for depression. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid

wahern 8y ago

“The whole problem with nicotine is that it happens to be found in cigarettes,” she told me. “People can’t disassociate the two in their mind, nicotine and smoking. It’s not the general public that annoys me, it’s the scientists. When I tell them about the studies, they should say, ‘Wow.’ But they say, ‘Oh well, that might be true, but I don’t see the point.’ It’s not even ignorance. It’s their preconceived ideas and inflexibility.” ... “To my knowledge, nicotine is the most reliable cognitive enhancer that we currently have, bizarrely,” said Jennifer Rusted, professor of experimental psychology at Sussex University in Britain when we spoke. “The cognitive enhancing effects of nicotine in a normal population are more robust than you get with any other agent. With Provigil, for instance, the evidence for cognitive benefits is nowhere near as strong as it is for nicotine.” From https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-a-nicotine-patch-make-you-smarter-excerpt/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/will-a-nicotine-p... I've never smoked (though I tried and failed to be pick up vaping 10 years ago), but I think it should be abundantly clear that for centuries many smokers have been effectively self-medicating, either to blunt some mental disorder (Schizophrenia, etc) or for what today we might call a cognitive enhancer. It's just that the addictiveness of smoking has masked that phenomenon. Vaping is unmasking it because nicotine alone is not nearly as addictive as smoking. (Seems unclear if vaping is as non-addictive as, e.g, nicotine patches or gum. Probably not, but we'll see.)

ArchTypical 8y ago
That is fascinating.
icanhackit 8y ago
It's worth noting that tobacco contains harmala alkaloids [1] which are monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). So it's possible those who persist with smoking in place of vaping or other nicotine delivery mechanisms might be doing so because they're (unknowingly) self-medicating for depression. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmala_alkaloid