Click here to go BACK to the main page

NICOTINE - an alkaloid (nitrogenous compound) obtained from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant Nicottiana Tabacum. It is the component of cigarette smoke that causes addiction.
In its purest form it is one of the most powerful poisons ever known.
It is named after a 16th century French diplomat, Jacques Nicot, who introduced tobacco to France.
It's a colorless to pale yellow, oily liquid with the formula C₁₀H₁₄N₂.
Nicotine sulfate has been used as an insecticide.
Anti-tobacco campaigners are convinced that nicotine is addictive and that by addicting a person to a deadly brew of chemicals, they say, nicotine contributes to 400,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. The Food and Drug Administration has said that nicotine is as addictive as heroin, cocaine and alcohol , forming the basis for rules restricting marketing and sales of cigarettes to minors. Among other things, these would prohibit tobacco billboards within 1,000 feet of schools, eliminate most cigarette vending machines and require the tobacco companies to foot the bill for an ad campaign warning children against the dangers of smoking.
The major tobacco companies denounced the FDA, and sued to block their implementation. From World War II, there are records of starving people trading food for cigarettes in concentration camps.