Editing Nicotine (section)

==History, society and culture==
{{See also|History of tobacco}}
[[File:Joe dimaggio camel ad.jpg|thumb|[[Cigarette advertising|Cigarette ad]] featuring baseball player [[Joe DiMaggio]] in 1941]]
Nicotine was originally isolated from the tobacco plant in 1828 by chemists Wilhelm Heinrich Posselt and Karl Ludwig Reimann from [[Germany]], who believed it was a poison.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Henningfield JE, Zeller M | title = Nicotine psychopharmacology research contributions to United States and global tobacco regulation: a look back and a look forward | journal = Psychopharmacology | volume = 184 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 286–91 | date = March 2006 | pmid = 16463054 | doi = 10.1007/s00213-006-0308-4 | s2cid = 38290573 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Posselt W, Reimann L |title=Chemische Untersuchung des Tabaks und Darstellung eines eigenthümlich wirksamen Prinzips dieser Pflanze|trans-title=Chemical investigation of tobacco and preparation of a characteristically active constituent of this plant|language=de|journal=Magazin für Pharmacie|volume=6|issue=24|pages=138–161|year=1828|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cgkCAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA138}}</ref> Its chemical [[empirical formula]] was described by [[Louis Melsens|Melsens]] in 1843,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Melsens LH | year = 1843 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=j-E3AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA465 | title = Note sur la nicotine | trans-title = Note on nicotine | language = fr | journal = Annales de Chimie et de Physique | series = third series | volume = 9 | pages = 465–479; see especially page 470 }} [Note: The empirical formula that Melsens provides is incorrect because at that time, chemists used the wrong atomic mass for carbon (6 instead of 12).]</ref> its structure was discovered by [[Adolf Pinner]] and [[Richard Wolffenstein (chemist)|Richard Wolffenstein]] in 1893,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ueber Nicotin |trans-title=About nicotine |language=de |year=1891 | vauthors=Pinner A, Wolffenstein R |journal=Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft |volume=24 |pages=1373–1377 |doi=10.1002/cber.189102401242 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Ueber Nicotin. Die Constitution des Alkaloïds |trans-title=About nicotine: The Constitution of the Alkaloids |language=de |year=1893| vauthors = Pinner A |journal=Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft|volume=26|pages=292–305|doi=10.1002/cber.18930260165|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1425696 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Ueber Nicotin. I. Mitteilung|year=1893| vauthors = Pinner A | journal=Archiv der Pharmazie|volume=231|issue=5–6|pages=378–448|doi=10.1002/ardp.18932310508|s2cid=83703998|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1424557}}</ref>{{Clarify|reason=It's not clear that Wolffenstein should be attributed credit for identifying the structure of nicotine. Please see the talk page.|date=March 2013}} and it was first synthesized by [[Amé Pictet]] and A. Rotschy in 1904.<ref name=Pictet/><ref>{{cite magazine | vauthors = Zhang S |title=E-Cigs Are Going Tobacco-Free With Synthetic Nicotine |language=en-US |magazine=Wired |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/06/vaping-industry-wants-go-post-tobacco-synthetic-nicotine/ |access-date=2022-10-11 |issn=1059-1028}}</ref>

Nicotine is named after the tobacco plant ''[[Nicotiana tabacum]],'' which in turn is named after the [[France|French]] ambassador in [[Portugal]], [[Jean Nicot|Jean Nicot de Villemain]], who sent tobacco and seeds to [[Paris]] in 1560, presented to the French King,<ref name="Rang H. P 2007, page 598">{{cite book  | vauthors =  Dale MM, Ritter JM, Fowler RJ, Rang HP |title=Rang & Dale's Pharmacology |publisher=Churchill Livingstone |isbn=978-0-8089-2354-1 |edition=6th | page = 598 }}</ref> and who promoted their medicinal use. Smoking was believed to protect against illness, particularly the plague.<ref name="Rang H. P 2007, page 598"/>

[[Tobacco]] was introduced to [[Europe]] in 1559, and by the late 17th century, it was used not only for [[smoking]] but also as an [[insecticide]]. After [[World War II]], over 2,500 tons of nicotine insecticide were used worldwide, but by the 1980s the use of nicotine insecticide had declined below 200 tons. This was due to the availability of other insecticides that are cheaper and less harmful to [[mammal]]s.<ref name=Ujvary/>

The nicotine content of popular American-brand cigarettes has increased over time, and one study found that there was an average increase of 1.78% per year between the years of 1998 and 2005.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Connolly GN, Alpert HR, Wayne GF, Koh H | title = Trends in nicotine yield in smoke and its relationship with design characteristics among popular US cigarette brands, 1997-2005 | journal = Tobacco Control | volume = 16 | issue = 5 | pages = e5 | date = October 2007 | pmid = 17897974 | pmc = 2598548 | doi = 10.1136/tc.2006.019695 }}</ref>

Although methods of production of synthetic nicotine have existed for decades,<ref>{{cite web |title=Industry Documents Library |url=https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/ |access-date=2022-10-11 |website=www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu}}</ref> it was believed that the cost of making nicotine by laboratory synthesis was cost prohibitive compared to extracting nicotine from tobacco.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Jewett C |date=2022-03-08 |title=The Loophole That's Fueling a Return to Teenage Vaping |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/health/vaping-fda-nicotine.html |access-date=2022-10-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> However, recently synthetic nicotine started to be found in different brands of e-cigarettes and oral pouches and marketed as "tobacco-free."<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Jewett C  |date=2022-03-08 |title=The Loophole That's Fueling a Return to Teenage Vaping |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/health/vaping-fda-nicotine.html |access-date=2022-10-11 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The US FDA is tasked with reviewing tobacco products such as e-cigarettes and determining which can be authorized for sale.  In response to the likelihood that FDA would not authorize many e-cigarettes to be marketed, e-cigarette companies began marketing products that they claimed to contain nicotine that were not made or derived from tobacco, but contained synthetic nicotine instead, and thus, would be outside FDA's tobacco regulatory authority.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Jordt SE | title = Synthetic nicotine has arrived | journal = Tobacco Control | pages = tobaccocontrol–2021–056626 | date = September 2021 | volume = 32 | issue = e1 | pmid = 34493630 | pmc = 8898991 | doi = 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-056626 }}</ref> Similarly, nicotine pouches that claimed to contain non-tobacco (synthetic) nicotine were also introduced. The cost of synthetic nicotine has decreased as the market for the product increased. In March 2022, the U.S. Congress passed a law (the [[Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022]]) that expanded FDA's tobacco regulatory authority to include tobacco products containing nicotine from any source, thereby including products made with synthetic nicotine.

===Legal status===
{{Further|Smoking in the United Kingdom|Tobacco in the United States}}
In the United States, nicotine products and [[nicotine replacement therapy]] products like Nicotrol are only available to people 18 and above; proof of age is required; not for sale in vending machine or from any source where proof of age cannot be verified. As of 2019, the minimum age to purchase tobacco in the US is 21 at the federal level.<ref>{{cite journal | author =Center for Tobacco Products |date=2022-09-26 |title=Tobacco 21 |url=https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/retail-sales-tobacco-products/tobacco-21 |journal=FDA |language=en}}</ref>

In the European Union, the minimum age to purchase nicotine products is 18.  However, there is no minimum age requirement to use tobacco or nicotine products.<ref>{{cite web |title=21, 18, or 14: A look at the legal age for smoking around the world |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/world/21-18-or-14-a-look-at-the-legal-age-for-smoking-around-the-world |website=Straits Times |access-date=1 March 2019|date=3 October 2017 }}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 implemented the European directive 2014/40/EU, amended by Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and the Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020.  Additionally other regulations limit advertising, sale and display of tobacco products and other products containing nicotine for human consumption. The Sunak government proposed banning disposable vapes to limit their appeal and affordability for children and to reduce the amount of waste generated.

===In media===
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| image1 = [http://www.comicvine.com/nick-oteen/29-67121/ An image showing Nick O'Teen fleeing from Superman], Comic Vine
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In some [[anti-smoking]] literature, the harm that tobacco smoking and nicotine addiction does is personified as [[Nick O'Teen]], represented as a humanoid with some aspect of a cigarette or cigarette butt about him or his clothes and hat.<ref name="HEC">{{cite journal | vauthors = Jacob M |title=Superman versus Nick O'Teen — a children's anti-smoking campaign |journal=Health Education Journal |date=1 March 1985 |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=15–18 |doi=10.1177/001789698504400104|s2cid=71246970 }}</ref> Nick O'Teen was a villain that was created for the [[Health Education Council]]. The character was featured in three animated anti-smoking [[public service announcements]] in which he tries to get kids addicted to cigarettes before being foiled by the [[DC Comics]] character [[Superman]].<ref name="HEC" />

Nicotine was often compared to caffeine in advertisements in the 1980s by the tobacco industry, and later in the 2010s by the electronic cigarettes industry, in an effort to reduce the stigmatization and the public perception of the risks associated with nicotine use.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Becker R |title=Why Big Tobacco and Big Vape love comparing nicotine to caffeine |url=https://www.theverge.com/2019/4/26/18513312/vape-tobacco-big-companies-nicotine-caffeine-comparison-drugs-chemicals |website=The Verge |language=en |date=26 April 2019}}</ref>