On Coffee and (e)Cigarettes

I believe that there are benefits to smoke-free nicotine use for a lot of people and nicotine itself isn't any more "addictive" than caffeine. That shocks a lot of people to hear, because it goes against everything we've been taught over the past few decades. However, a lot of more recent research backs me up in this. (See http://nicotinepolicy.net/karl-fagerstrom/520-dependence-on-tobacco-and-nicotine) Of course, if you would tell people to not start using caffeinated products, then the same advice would obviously apply to smoke-free nicotine products. But if you have no objection to people using caffeinated products, that pretty much makes any arguments against smoke-free nicotine products moot.

Is one of these things really not like the other?

You often hear people joke about their coffee/caffeine "addictions" all of the time, but many don't even recognize that they actually do have a dependency. People will drink a large latte in the morning and then suck down energy drinks or caffeinated sodas the rest of the day. Not a sign of dependency, right? However, if they are used to that daily routine, they'll suffer symptoms similar to those of nicotine "withdrawal" if they quit, such as headaches, irritability, depression, fatigue and difficulty concentrating. Yet, because their dependency is not as visible as smoking or vaping, people don't seem to notice it as much. Consequently, people believe that smokers/vapers need to "feed an addiction" in a way that caffeine users apparently don't, so the caffeine users aren't "really addicted."

But there is a reason why nicotine users seem to need a "fix" more often than caffeine users. Consider the fact that a Starbucks latte in the morning and a 5-hour Energy drink after lunch equals about 350 milligrams (mg) of caffeine a day. The half-life of caffeine in the human body is 6 hours (meaning that after 6 hours, only half of the caffeine consumed has left the system), so the effects of caffeine last a fairly long time. Just two strongly caffeinated drinks can last a caffeine junkie all day long!

Now consider that smokers consume about 200 mg of nicotine a day, but scientists estimate that only about 10% of that (20 mg) is actually delivered/absorbed by the body. (Personally, I use my e-cigarette all day long, but still use only about 3 ml of 12 mg strength liquid which, using the same 10% delivery/absorption rate, would be only 3.6 mg absorbed per day.) The half-life of nicotine is only about 2 hours, so unlike caffeine users, nicotine users have to use it far more frequently to keep getting its benefits. That makes it look like they "can't live without it," but caffeine users just are fortunate that the effects of their "drug of choice" last longer!

If you consider these facts, smoke-free nicotine users aren't anymore "addicts" than caffeine users. The only differentiating factor is how the nicotine is consumed. When the nicotine is consumed by smoking, that can have serious health consequences for the smoker and negatively impact their life. But it is the inhalation of smoke that is creating the problem, not the nicotine dependency itself.

So why aren't people who depend on caffeine to get through their day considered "addicts?" Mainly because using it generally doesn't have a negative impact on the user's health and quality of life and people feel they derive a benefit from its effects.

How is that any different than a smoke-free nicotine dependency? If you know the facts, you know it isn't different at all.