Hacker News Reader

Isn't that way shorter acting ?

And carcinogenic

Nicotine is not carcinogenic and neither are nicotine products like patches or gum. Nicotine products are distinct from tobacco products, and tobacco contains a lot more than nicotine, and that cocktail is both carcinogenic and more addictive. That's why nicotine products are used for nicotine cessation, they are strictly less harmful and easier to quit. (That doesn't make nicotine safe but it's in an entirely different league than tobacco. Nicotine products almost certainly won't be the reason you die, whereas tobacco products often are.)

I don’t really know anything about the field other than having heard somewhere over a decade ago of a then-recent study showing that it is in and of itself carcinogenic, but it seems like nicotine and several metabolites have various cancer-promoting properties: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4363846/

But yes, it’s certainly less bad than getting the same amount of nicotine by smoking tobacco.

Totally true. But the bottom line is that one of these things kills you and the other doesn't. That doesn't mean it's safe but I do think it is important not to imply they are equally harmful or that nicotine products are carcinogenic. Nicotine isn't carcinogenic and they are not in the same ballpark of harm.

What is?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com