Nicotine itself isn't highly addictive; at least, not as mythologized in the anti-smoking campaigns. Its addictive potential is strongly dependent on factors li

Nicotine itself isn't highly addictive; at least, not as mythologized in the anti-smoking campaigns. Its addictive potential is strongly dependent on factors like speed of uptake (itself a function of method as well as chemical formulation), and behavioral and social associations developed at the time of habituation. It's why cessation alternatives like nicotine gum have very poor track records, and why vaping has the potential (partly realized) to be both a considerable benefit to public health as well as considerable impediment.