Nicotine

How long it takes for nicotine to kick in and the time its effects last depend on how you take it. In tobacco smoke, nicotine reaches the brain within seconds and its effects last from around 30 minutes to a few hours.

Nicotine is a colourless, oily substance found in the tobacco plant.

It has a bitter taste and can cause a burning sensation in the mouth and throat. Chemicals and flavours are added to products that have nicotine to reduce these effects.

People consume nicotine in:

• Smoked tobacco (cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, shisha/waterpipe)
• Vaping products (vapes and e-liquids)
• Smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco and heated tobacco
• Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products such as patches and gum
• Other products such as nicotine pouches

Nicotine is addictive, particularly when it’s in smoked tobacco. Some people can get addicted to nicotine after smoking just a few cigarettes. Vaping nicotine is likely to be less addictive than smoking, however you can still become dependent on vapes.

Giving up nicotine can be difficult because the body has to get used to functioning without it. With smoking, withdrawal symptoms usually start within 2-3 hours after your last cigarette. They can include cravings, irritability, anxiety, trouble concentrating, headaches and other mental and physical symptoms. The symptoms may last from a few days to a few weeks. Withdrawal from vaping may bring fewer and less intense symptoms than from quitting smoking, but it is still likely to have unpleasant mental and physical side-effects.

In the UK it is illegal to sell tobacco products and nicotine vaping products to someone under the age of 18, or for adults to buy these products for them.

Nicotine replacement therapy products, licensed as medicines (such as patches, gum and lozenges) can be sold over the counter or prescribed on the NHS to anyone over the age of 12.