Nicotine Nicotine Nicotine is made from the dried leaves of the tobacco plant. It can be made into cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, and occasionally, chewing tobacco. Regular smoking can be expensive. Smoking twenty cigarettes a day can cost 18 or more a week.
Tobacco contains the stimulant drug nicotine, which increases pulse rate and blood pressure.
First time users may simply feel dizzy or sick. Regular smokers often say it helps them to concentrate, relax, combat boredom and reduce anxiety. It also suppresses the appetite, so people often eat less. Effects start very quickly and can continue for up to thirty minutes from one cigarette. Although some people smoke occasionally, most people become hooked and smoke regularly.