4 ms·

> We also know that nicotine itself isn’t particularly harmful. Source?

• tempguy9999 7y ago
  Elsewhere in this thread, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20536162 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20536162
• seanmcdirmid 7y ago
  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-nicotine-all-bad/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-nicotine-all-b...
  • Balgair 7y ago
    > So far the answers aren't clear. That article contains no information that clearly states that nicotine is harmless, just that using vapes and nicotinic gums are less harmful than the use of cigarettes. To be clear, it does not say that nicotine is harmful, nor does it say that it is harmless.
    • seanmcdirmid 7y ago
      > We also know that nicotine itself isn’t particularly harmful. I.e. not harmless, but not especially harmful. Like caffeine. Remember, humans have a 100% mortality rate.
      • Balgair 7y ago
        Despite the fact that you cannot get out of life alive, the evidence seems to be unclear on if nicotine is harmful or not and what, if any, effects it may have on the quality of a life that will end or the effects on the time of death.
        • seanmcdirmid 7y ago
          Yes, but that is true for a lot of substances, like again, caffeine. All we know is that we have yet to find evidence that nicotine is especially harmful, and that’s just how it works in the biological sciences. If everything required proof of no harm, we would simply die of starvation.
• DanBC 7y ago
  US Surgeon General's report is pretty good. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/tobacco/index.html https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/... In the context of tobacco the nicotine is addictive; possibly carcinogenic; but there's a load of other stuff in tobacco which is far worse. I think it would be foolish to allow 16 year olds to have access to nicotine products unless they're already smokers.