Sort of like nicotine. I don't think we would have made the transition to desk work as easily as we did without it. I'm pretty sure the US space program depended on it.
The engineers of old were very different engineers than today.
During the time frame that the user you replied to was referencing, nicotine consumption was the norm. Now, with the extensive change in societal perspective that nicotine consumption has undergone, those who still use gravitate towards the uneducated and less successful.
I've worked with smokers and non-smokers, both unproductive and productive alike.
I would venture to say that a metric like social media use has a higher correlation with lack of productivity, wouldn't you?
Back then you could smoke at your desk.
Which was unfortunate for the non-smokers.
I still think something else keeps smokers smoking: the taste, the ritual, looking cool, etc.
I assume patches are slow release but smoking provides a bigger hit all at once. Sometimes that's important, both in terms of impact and building tolerance.