| You might have heard that the federal government intends to severely lower the nicotine content of commercial tobacco. Let’s assume for the time being that their motives are pure and they are only concerned with improving the health of consumers. Even if I assume that’s the case, this is a bad move. Here’s the thing: nicotine is the least bad part of tobacco. In fact there’s an argument to be made that it’s actually beneficial for brain function. That it’s a nootropic. That it can improve focus and reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, the more nicotine you use, the lower your risk of Alzheimer's later in life. Studies using purified synthetic nicotine show neutral effects on the kinds of health parameters that smoking has been shown to worsen such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension or general inflammation. Nicotine by itself is essentially harmless and it has large benefits on cognitive function. In cell culture studies, it even seems to inhibit the formation of amyloid plaque in brain cells. Yes, it is addictive. Not in everyone, but a large number of people who take up smoking will and do get addicted to nicotine and continue smoking to obtain the effect of nicotine. And so that’s where we are right now. What do you think will happen when people who are addicted to tobacco suddenly get less nicotine with each cigarette they smoke? Are they going to smoke less? Or are they going to smoke more? If it takes more tobacco to get the same nicotine hit the only logical conclusion is that people will smoke more tobacco to obtain the same amount of nicotine they were before the reduction in nicotine levels. If you lower the amount of nicotine in each cigarette, and people begin smoking more to make up for it, they will be inhaling more of the worst and most dangerous parts of commercial tobacco: the chemicals added during the cigarette-making process, the pesticides used during the growing process, and the microplastics in the filters. Besides, people aren't just addicted to the nicotine, they’re also addicted to the ritual of smoking. They are addicted to the meditation of stepping outside, opening up the pack, lighting a match, and taking that first puff while being alone with their thoughts. Lowering the nicotine content won't change the "addiction" to the ritual or help people quit. I expect it will only make people smoke even more and inhale more carcinogens while getting less of the only good part of smoking—the nicotine itself. Let this be a lesson. No matter how pure your intentions, if you’re starting from a place of ignorance where you simply do not understand all the variables at play, you’re probably going to mess things up and make things worse--especially if you're making decisions that affect hundreds of millions of people. The people behind this decision aren’t looking any deeper than the surface level. They're not considering anything else other than "nicotine is bad." Let me know what you think, folks, in the comment section of New and Noteworthy. Take care, everyone. | 