Also known as cigarettes, ciggies, tabs, darts, durries, rollies, smokes, fags, butts, snus, zyn, pouch.
Nicotine is a stimulant drug, found in tobacco products.
Toxins found in cigarettes
Cigarette smoke contains more than 7000 chemicals, many of which are harmful. They include: carbon monoxide, tar, acetone, lead, mercury, chromium and cadmium, hydrogen cyanide, ammonia, polonium 210. Over 70 of these chemicals have been found to be carcinogenic (cancer-causing).
Tobacco products include cigarettes, cigars, pipes, loose leaves and snuff. Usually it is smoked in cigarettes. Nicotine is also inhaled when included in liquids in e-cigarettes or “vapes”. Smokeless tobacco products, such as leaves can be chewed, while snuff – ground wet tobacco is placed in the mouth and ground dry tobacco is snorted. Snus or nicotine pouches are used by placing them between the lip and the gum of the mouth and can contain synthetic nicotine.
Effects of nicotine
Effects depend on the person (age, weight, size, health and tolerance), as well as the strength, the amount smoked, and if smoked with other drugs, including alcohol. When smoked, effects are felt quickly. The effects also go away quickly, so people feel like they need another dose.
Short-term effects, desired and undesired, may include…
Long-term effects may include…
Depends on use and person. Generally, nicotine can be detected in blood within 1 to 3 days, but cotinine which is formed when nicotine enters the body, can be detected up to 10 days. Cotinine can be detected in urine up to 2 days and in saliva up to 4 days. Nicotine can be detected in hair up to 90 days, sometimes longer, up to 1 year.
There is no safe way to use nicotine. Whether smoking low-tar, light, filtered, unfiltered, factory made cigarettes or rolling your own – the health risks are there. The only way to be safe is not to smoke. If you choose to smoke, the following will help reduce risk:
Before: try and delay having a cigarette, do some other activity to take your mind off smoking. Consider Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to reduce or quit smoking. Remember, while vaping can help reduce nicotine intake, it also poses health risks due to the harmful chemicals that vapes contain.
During: go slow, don’t inhale deeply, smoke less often, set a limit and keep to it.
Avoid: mixing nicotine with medications and other drugs, including alcohol or cannabis, smoking too often, sharing a cigarette, harming others through second-hand smoke, making it a habit – smoking when stressed, as a reward or when doing a particular activity.
It may be a problem if you agree with any of these statements:
It is illegal to sell or supply tobacco products to people aged under 18. There are laws and regulations that restrict smoking in public areas such as shopping centres, eating and drinking venues and workplaces. It is illegal to smoke in a car when children under the age of 16 are present or when the car is being used for business and someone else is in the vehicle. A prescription from a doctor is needed for the purchase of nicotine e-cigarettes or “vapes.” Smokeless tobacco products including chewing tobacco and snus have been prohibited in Australia since 1991.
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| 03 | Clinical Worker - Moranbah |
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